


Owen's List

by eclipsingbinary



Series: Recovery Tales [3]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Medical Procedures, Team as Family, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:08:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28525980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclipsingbinary/pseuds/eclipsingbinary
Summary: “Best case scenario, he wakes up in a few days none the wiser. But most people who survive injuries like this have some problems with headaches at least for a while, and to a greater or lesser extent, concentration issues, mood changes and memory problems. Most of those things improve over time. In more complicated cases, we might see seizures, muscle problems, difficulty with mobility, that kind of thing.”After the disastrous mission to Ayre, Owen warned the Black Bulls it could take months for Finral to completely recover from his injuries.  This is that story.
Relationships: Finral Roulacase & Yami Sukehiro, Vanessa Enoteca & Finral Roulacase, Vanessa Enoteca & Yami Sukehiro
Series: Recovery Tales [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2004724
Comments: 119
Kudos: 113





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, at last, this is the follow-up to _Crazy Trust Thing_. What was going to be a few little episodic snippets of Finral's recovery time turned into an even longer story with more angst, drama, whump (and then some more whump) than I predicted. 
> 
> This is set a week or so after _Crazy Trust Thing_. It would help to have read that first, but if you read it a while ago, or are really just here for the extra whump, here's a short reminder.
> 
> It's time for 15 year old Langris's magic knight exam, so when the Wizard King produces a mission for the Black Bulls, Yami jumps at the chance to get Finral out of the city. They are sent to the run down town of Ayre to track down Barat, a people smuggler, sleep magic user and all round nasty piece of work. He throws Finral into a wall and causes serious head and chest injuries. Yami, in one of his least well thought through decisions, gets Finral to make them a portal. Yami thought he would take them home, but the portal opens to the middle of a deserted forest. After a night in the snow, Yami follows a peculiar mana drain to a rambling house/hideout that will become very familiar.
> 
> Owen comes to the rescue because he's Owen. Over the course of a week, there are various medical dramas (Finral), personal crises (Yami) and stolen wine (Vanessa). By the end we reach a point where Finral is mostly awake and Yami has met the owner of the house. 
> 
> But hanging over them all is Owen's list of complications...
> 
> \--
> 
> Like normal, this story is complete on my hard drive, and just needs polished before I post each chapter. That polishing is ably assisted by simplesongsmistress and fairytail1230 beta readers extraordinaire. All the leftover mistakes are mine.

“Can I get my own bedroom? Without you in it,” Finral asked. He was slouched in the common room window seat watching the birds on the sill outside. They were snapping up the remains of his breakfast. “You snore, Yami.”

“Yeah, well, you talk in your sleep. And never lie still.”

“See, it’ll help you get a better rest too.”

But Yami was reluctant. The boy was still dozing through most of the day and if he woke through the night he was confused about where and when he was. Owen had warned them he would need months of recovery time after the injuries he had sustained in Ayre. There had been a long list of possible complications. So far they were having enough trouble with the headaches and the concentration. 

“Choose a room, but there’s a futon going in too. Then someone can sleepover. It doesn’t have to be me. Bet you wouldn’t say that Vanessa snores.”

“She won’t sleepover. She’s being sort of…” the boy waved his hand as he struggled for the word.

Yami sighed. “Reluctant. Yeah. I noticed.”

“That’s it. But I can get my own room. That’s great. I’m going to look now.” He slipped off the seat and wobbled. He had to use the furniture to regain his balance, but frowned at the arm Yami had put out automatically. “I can manage.”

“Sure. Whatever you say, grumpy. Don’t take too long. I don’t want to have to send out a search party.”

“You won’t.” He was limping on the weaker left leg, but he was managing on his own two feet. Yami chose to ignore the way he paused to lean on the door frame on the way out. The boy wanted to try this on his own, then Yami would let him.

But he was starting to feel antsy when Vanessa arrived later with a sandwich and a bottle of wine. How long did it take to find a room in a house that was at least eighty percent bedrooms?

“Where’s Finral?” she asked. She may have been holding herself back from the boy, but she wanted to know everything he was doing. “Is he still going on about his own bedroom? There’s one beside the stairs on the second floor with a spare futon in it already.”

“Yeah. He said he was going to look for one.”

“When?”

“Half an hour ago.”

“Should it take him this long?”

Yami lit a cigarette. “Maybe I should show him the room you found. He’s probably got himself turned round and lost.”

Vanessa snorted. “Finral doesn’t get lost. I’ll wait here for him.”

But the boy was not on the second or third floor. Yami found the room with the futon, but there was no sign that Finral had even opened the door.

Where on earth could he be? It was not as if he could have walked far and he could hardly climb many stairs. Yami went back to the ground floor again. Maybe he had not even attempted the steps.

There was no reply when he shouted Finral’s name, but Vanessa poked her head out of the common room. “No luck?”

“He’s not on the two floors above. I thought I’d try here next.”

“But there aren’t any bedrooms on this floor.”

“I know. But he was limping on that leg, I don’t think he could have managed all the stairs.”

Vanessa downed her glass and said, “Right, I’ll look on the top floors and I’ll show him that room if I find him.” She did not sound worried, but there was a tightness about her mouth that telegraphed her concern.

Yami checked the big bathroom and the two closets without success. When he opened the kitchen door he almost missed the silent figure standing in the corner.

“Hey, Finral. What are you doing here?”

There was no reply. The boy continued to stare at the wall without acknowledging Yami’s presence. 

“Finral,” he said again as he touched the boy’s arm. 

The boy jerked back and almost stumbled. “Y… Yami.”. He glanced around the darkened kitchen as though he was as surprised as Yami to find himself there. “What… what am I doing here?”

“I was asking you the same question.”

“I shouldn’t. I wasn’t meant to be here.” His breathing was speeding up and he was looking around the room as if expecting a threat. His ki was full of confusion and fear.

“Hey, Finral. It’s okay. It’s just the kitchen. How about we go to the common room and see what Vanessa is doing?”

“Yami?” 

“Yeah.”

“What am I doing?”

“No idea kid.” 

Finral allowed himself to be directed out of the kitchen. His left leg was shaky and he was dragging it worse than before. Beyond the door he stopped and looked around in confusion again. “Yami?” 

“Yeah, Finral.” He took the boy’s hand and felt his ki settle from fear to simple confusion. “Come this way.”

“Okay.”

The physical contact seemed to settle the worst of the distress, but he was no more aware by the time they reached the common room. Yami deposited him on a chair and for a moment the boy gazed around the room as if he had never seen it before.

Yami did not want to leave him on his own, because who knew where he would end up. “Stay there,” he instructed, then went to the door and yelled for Vanessa and Gordon. 

When he turned around, Finral was pacing the edges of the room. He was stumbling even more now.

“Finral. Sit down before you fall over.”

No response.

Yami took his hand again and nudged him back to the sofa. When he sat, Yami sat beside him and kept a grip of his hand. The presence seemed to be enough as the boy curled up against Yami’s arm and closed his eyes. 

There were footsteps hurrying in the corridor, then Vanessa shoved the door open to crash against the wall. Finral flinched but did not open his eyes at the noise. “Way to make an entrance Vanessa.”

“Where’d you find him?”

“The kitchen.”

“What was he doing there?”

“He asked me the same question. He didn't know what was going on. I had to bring him here and then he wouldn’t sit still unless I was holding his hand.” He lifted their joined hands to demonstrate. “He fell asleep and now I’ve got cramp in my arm.” 

Vanessa frowned. “We need to tell Owen.”

“Yeah. We do. He’s coming tomorrow.”

Finral woke after an hour and seemed much more like himself. “I was what?”

“You were in the kitchen staring at the wall. You were meant to be looking for a bedroom.”

Finral blushed. “I don’t remember. Maybe I was hungry.”

“You weren’t eating anything,” Yami said. “Look. Don’t go wandering off without telling someone where you are. This is a big building, who knows where you might end up. Vanessa found you a room anyway.”

“Me and Gordon are going to move your stuff over.”

“I can help,” he said, but he was already drifting off to sleep.

“I think we can manage.”

Finral dozed on the sofa all afternoon. He woke to nibble what Charmy put in front of him for dinner then fell asleep before she removed the plate. Vanessa tucked a blanket around him and he never twitched. 

It was getting dark when Yami decided that he needed his arm back. He levered the sleeping boy onto the other side of the sofa and stood up.

“Finral. You wanted your own room. Bedtime.”

The boy opened his eyes. For a minute his gaze was vacant and his eyes shot wide. Then, with a shake of his head he almost focused on Yami. He looked bemused at the offered arm, so Yami pulled him up by the elbow. 

“Shit, but you’re out of it today.”

“Hmm. I feel sort of disconnected.”

“Right. Sleep. Tomorrow will be better.”

He stood and looked at Yami but did not make any effort to move.

“Where are we going?”

“Bed, Finral. You wanted your room, remember.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Yami took his hand for fear of losing him again.

Once in his room, Yami had to remind him why they were there. Gordon was better with the dressing, but Yami tried by first throwing clothes onto the bed, then manhandling the pliant boy into the pyjamas when he stared at them for too long. He curled into a ball away from Yami and he seemed to sleep.

Yami watched him for a long time before settling down on the futon.

\--

Owen visited before lunch the next day. Finral was more like himself, but unable to explain what had happened. He submitted to Owen’s examination under Yami’s watchful gaze, but aside from the weakness in the left leg, almost zero fine motor control and the perceptual issues Owen found nothing new. 

Finral glanced at Yami before saying, “I got my own room. I didn’t sleep so well.”

“You were sleeping fine when I watched you,” Yami said.

“But you snore Yami. I told you.” 

“And the headaches?” Owen asked. 

Finral shrugged. “They’re okay I guess. The painkillers help. I think I took some yesterday. He... he had them. Him.” He waved his hand around his face.

“You mean Gordon.”

“Yeah. Him. He has them.”

“So Gordon gave you painkillers before you went wandering?” Yami asked. “Was it at breakfast?”

Finral shrugged. “I guess so. I never thought about it.”

“That could be the reason,” Owen said. He opened his case and pulled out a paper bag with tablets inside. “That medication can have side effects. These ones might suit you better.” Finral took the packet and excused himself. He did not look at Yami or Owen as he left, even though it was obvious that they were going to talk about him.

Yami watched him go. “Are you sure Owen? He was really spaced out yesterday. I’ve not seen him like that since he woke up. And that can’t be normal.” He pointed to the door. “He’s not a little bit interested in us talking about him.”

The Recovery Mage nodded. “He had a serious injury Yami. It’s remarkable how well he’s doing considering the extent of the damage. It's only been three weeks and the fact that he’s up and about at all is more than I expected. It’s going to take longer for him to get back to normal.”

“He’s never tried to use his magic.”

“That’s probably for the best. If he’s having difficulty with reading and distance perception the magic will take a bit longer to come back.”

“And his concentration is shot to pieces. He forgets names. He can never remember Gordon, and sometimes he forgets Vanessa’s name even though they used to be thick as thieves. I’m not sure he remembers what I said at the start of the conversation by the end. He can’t read.” Yami sighed. “But you said it was going to take months for him to get back to normal. You had that list of complications.”

“He can’t wake up after that kind of injury and go straight back to normal. He’s still got a long road to go, but he’s doing well. That leg is improving every time I see it. His coordination and fine control will improve too. We have to be patient Yami.”

“Okay. Yeah. No choice really. Do you want to stay for lunch?”

“I can’t stay long. The infirmary’s stressful at the moment.”

Vanessa had found Finral in the corridor and taken him to the kitchen. They were sitting at the table when Yami and Owen joined them. “Care to explain these?” she said, holding out the paper bag. “Dozy didn’t have a clue what they were.”

Finral shrugged. “I don’t remember what I was supposed to do with them.”

“Owen thinks that yesterday’s wandering might have been a side effect of the tablets. Those are different painkillers,” Yami explained.

“The other ones were maybe too strong. These should help with the headaches without being overly sedating,” Owen said. “Can you pass the salt?”

Vanessa pocketed the tablets. “I’ll give them to Gordon.”

“That would be safest.” 

Finral was gazing at the little birds on the window sill and did not say anything. He pushed his food around the plate until Yami said, “Eat that. Stop playing with it.”

“Sure. Sorry Yami.”

Yami would accept the two bites before his attention wandered again as a win.

Owen finished his meal quicker than usual. Now that Yami looked at him properly, he did look tired and distracted. “Thank you for lunch, but I need to get back. It’s nice to come here for a bit of peace.” 

“Never thought anyone would come to the Black Bulls for peace,” Yami said.

“It could be the catering,” Owen said, with a nod of thanks to Charmy. 

Charmy cackled in delight. 

But before he left, Owen was silent for a moment as he watched Finral gazing out the window. “I think I’ll come back in a couple of days. Give the infirmary a call if anything changes. Anything at all. It’s probably just the tablets and poor sleep, but if it’s something more serious, I need to know about it. You’ve got a communication disc?”

“We’ve got Maigret’s one. That linked straight to you last time.”

“It'll link to the infirmary's main desk now. Any changes, Yami, I want to know.”

“But you’ll be back in two days no matter what.”

“Yes.”

Vanessa said she would walk him to the portal location in the garden. That left Yami and Finral in the kitchen on their own.

“You gonna eat any more of that? Or can I give it to the animals?”

“Hmm. Oh. No. I don’t think so. I’m not… not… what was that word again?”

“Hungry? You’re not hungry?”

“Yeah. That. I’m going to the common room.”

He pushed himself up and limped from the kitchen.

Yami cleaned up the lunch things. Normally he would have left it for Charmy, but he needed the privacy to think.

Despite Owen’s reassurance there was something deeply unsettling about the change in Finral. Last week he’d been full of rage at the limitations being imposed on him. He’d argued about the no magic rule. The exercises that Owen made him do were both too easy and too hard, the light was too bright and the room either too busy or not busy enough. The food was too hot. Then it was too cold. Yami’s voice was too loud, Gordon too quiet and why was Vanessa following him everywhere? Then it was as if someone had flipped a switch, the anger evaporated and they were left with a washed out, vacant version of the boy that they knew. Yami understood that it was the head injury, and maybe the medication. But he’d been taking those tablets last week with no problem. The headaches had been worse when he’d been frustrated. 

Yami decided he would speak to Gordon once the dishes were finished. He needed to know how many tablets Finral had taken for the pain. 

Gordon was in the common room with tea and an ancient magic encyclopedia from the library. Vanessa was fiddling with a magical device to play music. 

Finral was not there. Oh shit.

Vanessa said it first. “Where is he?”

“I thought he was here. This is where he said he was going.”

Vanessa scowled at him. “Yami. The kid got lost looking for a bedroom yesterday. He never gets lost.”

That was a good point. “Gordon. You stay here. If he comes back, you corral him and don’t let him out of your sight. Whoever finds him brings him back, and lets the other person know. We meet up in half an hour.”

Gordon nodded, and muttered something that better be agreement.

Vanessa took the lower floors, Yami headed upstairs. 

Normally, he loved this building. It was rambling and confusing and never the same two days in a row. Today he hated this building because it was rambling and confusing and never the same two days in a row. Finding his own bedroom was hard enough. How was he meant to find a sleepwalking spacial magee.

He checked each room that he passed on the second and third floor. He found his bedroom, the ever unpredictable library and a brand new music room he had never seen before. There was Charmy’s bedroom and the small pantry that liked to stay near it. 

But there was no sign of Finral. Maybe they should get him a bell.

He had just started on the fourth floor when he heard Vanessa call his name.

“Yeah, Vanessa, I’m here.”

“I found him.” She jogged up to join him. 

“Where the hell was he?”

“Sleeping in the racquetball court. Passed out in the corner of the room. I got him up and he’s with Gordon now. It was like waking the dead and I almost had to carry him to the common room. Don’t think he’s going anywhere else this afternoon. He curled up on Gordon like he did on you yesterday and he’s snoring away.”

“Damn. What are we going to do with him?”

“I don’t think we can let him out of our sight. Someone’s going to have to stick to him all the time. I don’t care if he thinks we’re overcrowding him.”

“He’s in no state to object at the moment.”

“Agreed.”

Finral was curled against Gordon and drooling on the quiet man’s shirt. Gordon did not seem to mind. He told Yami and Vanessa something, but Yami would be damned if he knew what it was. 

The boy was pale. He had dark rings under his eyes. Yami would have assumed he had not been sleeping if it was not for the fact that he had slept most of yesterday. There was blood on his face from where he had bitten through his lip. That was new. They needed to speak to Charmy about feeding him up too.

What a mess. 

Vanessa made them all tea. 

Gordon started to speak, then creased his face in concentration and said loud enough for the others to hear. “What's wrong with him?”

“Owen thought it might be the painkillers for his headache. He gave us new ones to try.”

Gordon frowned. “He hasn't been taking them. I’ve not given him any for three days.”

“He told Owen he had some yesterday.”

Gordon shook his head. He started to speak, then made an effort to increase the volume. “No. He never said he had a headache.”

Yami and Vanessa shared a look, then at the sleeping boy. 

“Owen said he was going to come back in a couple of days. Until then, someone is with him at all times,” Yami said.

Gordon and Vanessa both nodded. 

Finral slept for the rest of the afternoon. Vanessa got the little musical device to play and Gordon managed to prop his encyclopedia up against the table so he could read despite Finral’s head on his lap. When it was time to eat, Charmy brought food into the common room.

“Finral,” Yami said. “You gonna wake up and have something to eat?”

The boy opened his eyes, but it was the same vacant stare as yesterday. Without answering he closed them again.

“Finral. At least drink something.”

“Tired. Leave me alone, Langris,” he mumbled without opening his eyes.

“It’s Yami. And you need to wake up and drink something.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Okay.” But he made no move to sit up until Gordon helped him. Even then his eyes were closed more often than open, and he only managed to drink because Gordon held the glass for him. He leaned into Gordon’s arm once he had had a couple of mouthfuls and his breathing settled back to sleep.

Gordon glanced at Yami, who shrugged. They were never going to get him to eat if he would not wake up. 

Yami carried the boy to his bedroom once he had finished his own meal. Might as well let Gordon get the use of his arm back. Vanessa joined him on the futon and they played checkers. She only drank one glass of wine. 

Gordon knocked just as Vanessa was planning to go to her own room. He was carrying a clean set of pyjamas, so Yami left him to it. He had got very good at his nursing duties. When he let Yami back into the room, Finral was tucked under his blankets and still asleep.

“Did he wake up?” Yami asked.

Gordon shook his head. He looked back at Finral in concern.

“Yeah. I’m worried too. If he’s still like this tomorrow, we call Owen back. Something feels wrong.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Yami. Why are you in my bedroom?”

Yami opened his eyes. Sunlight was peeking through the cracks in the curtain. Finral was glaring at him from his bed. “Good morning to you too.”

“I thought I said I wanted my own room. Without you in it.” He crossed his arms and looked at the roof.

“Shit Finral. Do you remember what happened yesterday?”

“I asked you to sleep in your own room?”

“That was two days ago.”

Finral turned round so that he was facing Yami again. “What? No. Two days. That can’t be right.”

“Owen came yesterday. You were sleeping in the racquetball court.”

The boy was frowning in concentration. “No. I didn’t. I didn’t see Owen. I don't remember seeing Owen. What did he say? Is this normal? Am I supposed to lose whole days. Shit. What did I do? I’m not…”

“Calm down. Owen said he thought it was okay.”

“What does he know?”

Yami sat up. “Kid. Slow down your breathing before you lose it.” 

Finral’s panic showed no sign of calming, so Yami pulled himself up and across to the bed. “Finral. Stop.” He put his hand on the boy’s arm. He shivered, but seemed to collect himself.

“Yes,” he muttered to himself. “Owen’s the doctor. That’s what he knows. He said it’s okay.” After two steadying breaths he said to Yami. “A day. I’m missing a whole day. But Owen says that it’s okay.”

“He thought you might be having a reaction to the medication for the headaches.”

“Really. So it’s not that my brain is fried?”

“No more fried than it used to be. He says your leg is getting better and the other stuff is improving. If you could practice staying where we left you, that would be really good.”

“And then you’ll find your own room?”

“Yes. It’d be nice to sleep on my own bed again. You feel up to having breakfast?”

“Sure. I’m starving.” He wobbled a bit as he pulled himself to stand. “Gordon did this?” he asked, indicating the pyjamas. 

“Yeah. I don’t know how he does it.”

“I… I can’t remember. Will you tell me what happened?”

“With breakfast. You've hardly eaten for two days.” 

“That’s why I’m hungry. Come on. Will Charmy make pancakes?”

“I’m sure if you ask her.”

Finral was wobbly on the stairs. He frowned at Yami’s proffered arm. 

“I could carry you instead?” Yami offered. “I don’t want to explain to Owen that you fell down the stairs. He’d beat me up.”

Finral grinned. “Yeah. He'd be so cross at you.” He took Yami’s arm and leaned on it. “This leg isn’t working so good. I guessed I missed two days of exercises?”

“Better do double today then.”

“After pancakes.”

Vanessa and Gordon were already in the kitchen. Their worried expressions vanished when Finral waved to them and said, “Sorry. I think I might have been a bit of trouble.”

Vanessa grinned. “You’re not trouble. We were worried.” She leaned over and punched his arm. “Do you want anything from the village? I’m going in before the weather breaks. It feels like a storm building up.”

Finral rubbed his arm and grinned back. It was the closest physical connection she had made with him in days.

“I don’t think I need anything, but could we have the… you know, the round things for breakfast. What am I trying to say Yami?”

“You said you wanted pancakes.”

He nodded. 

“Anything for you, Finral,” Charmy said. "Your breakfast wish is my command." 

"Don't abuse that power," Vanessa said with a grin. 

But despite asking for them, he only took two and refused any of the sticky toppings that Charmy offered. Gordon took the rest of Finral’s share. 

He looked like he was forcing down the second pancake and was a little green at Gordon’s sugary creations. “I’m going… going to get washed.”

Yami stood up at the same time.

“No. You’re not coming with me for that.”

“Yes I am. Or you can take Vanessa or Gordon. But until Owen sees you again, you’re not going anywhere on your own.”

“Yami,” he whined. “I can wash myself.”

“Yes. And yesterday I thought you could walk from the kitchen to the common room without getting lost.”

Finral crossed his arms. 

“My way, kid, or not at all.”

Finral’s appeal to Vanessa and Gordon was met with shrugs. “You were really out of it yesterday,” Vanessa said. “It’s for the best.”

He closed his eyes briefly and said. “Whatever you want to do then.”

Yami was glad he persisted. By the end of the short bath Finral’s face was creased in pain and he needed more help to get dressed than he wanted. “I hate this,” he murmured to Yami as he lifted the disobedient left leg into his pants. 

“I know. But this is much better than yesterday.”

“You said you’d tell me what happened.”

“We lost you. You finished up with Owen and said you were going to the common room, then disappeared. Vanessa found you asleep in the racquetball court. The day before you went looking for a bedroom and never came back. I found you in the kitchen staring at the wall.”

“Did I do anything… weird?”

“Weirder than staring at a wall? Not really. We brought you back and you slept it off.” 

“Okay. That’s maybe not so bad.”

Yami put out an arm and this time Finral took the assistance. “My head hurts,” he murmured. 

“Let’s go find Gordon and the tablets then.”

Gordon was working on the encyclopedia and various purple hued spells in the common room. The air was heavy with the aromas. Finral ignored him and tucked into a corner of the sofa with his eyes squeezed shut and his hands over his ears. 

“Damn, Gordon. Take that stuff somewhere else.”

Finral winced at the noise. Gordon nodded. He said something as he held out the new tablets. Yami imagined it was an apology and a plan to go elsewhere. Hopefully the garden where the smells would be dissipated in the wind.

Finral swallowed the recommended two tablets with a glass of water. He leaned back against the seat while Yami opened the window to let the air clear. 

“You know,” Finral said in a strained voice. “I miss the old base. I could hide on the roof when you all got too much.”

“Don’t go near the damn roof, Finral.”

“Yeah. I know. Too high. Need a portal to do that.” He sounded sad.

It was the first time he had mentioned a portal since the day they had left for Ayre. “You’ll get them back, but we wait until Owen gives you permission before practicing.” Who knew where he would have ended up yesterday if he could have made a portal.

“Yeah. I don't think I’m ready yet. I miss them.”

It felt a little perverse, but Finral with a migraine and feeling sorry for himself was so much better than yesterday. Even half an hour later when the boy went very pale and vomited in the waste paper bin, it was less worrying than yesterday’s shell. 

“Can we say that those tablets are worse than the other ones?” Finral said as he leaned back again and wiped his mouth. “You be okay if I sleep? Might help the headache go away. You don’t have to stay.”

“I’ll entertain myself. Drink first.”

Finral managed a couple of mouthfuls before handing the cup back. His eyes were very large and his face pale. 

“Go to sleep.”

“Hmm. Yeah. Thanks Yami.”

He curled up on his side and closed his eyes. It did not take long for his breathing to slow and the pained look to leave his face. 

Yami gave it twenty minutes of complete stillness before he grabbed the bin. Even the open windows could not clear the smell of vomit. Confirming that Finral was asleep, he took the bin to dispose of its contents.

There was a set of toilets around the corner from the common room. It took him ten minutes to complete the task.

By the time he returned, Finral was gone.

Shit. Shit.

Yami checked to make sure that he was not behind any of the other furniture or tucked into a corner out of sight. There was only the discarded blanket and the empty sofa.

Where the hell could he have gone in less than ten minutes? He had been asleep. Yami had checked.

Gordon was in the garden. The stink of his magic kept wafting past. Yami yelled for him and he came to the window. He took one look at the room and asked a question. Even though he could not hear it, Yami knew it was, ‘Where is Finral?’

“He was asleep. I go to clean out a bin of vomit and he vanishes again.”

Gordon looked disappointed. At least it was not Vanessa. She would be furious if Yami had lost Finral again.

God, he was getting so fed up of this.

Where had the boy gone? It would have been helpful if there had been any sense of reason to the places he had been going, but there was nothing to link the racquetball court and the kitchen. They split the building the way they had yesterday. 

“Gordon, you look on the ground floor and work up. I’ll start at the top…” 

Then Yami had a terrifying thought. Shit. No. Could Finral be looking for a way onto the roof?

Yami took the stairs two at a time. Up one flight, around a corridor to find the next one, then up that one too. The last time he had explored the hideout there had been six floors, but the exterior of the building looked like it might have added a seventh since then. Could Finral manage the stairs when his leg had been so uncooperative earlier? 

He decided not to check each room this time. He would do it on the way down. Start at the top, where there was the most danger. He hoped to find Finral looking guilty as he tried to find his way onto the roof. He would apologise, Yami would berate him and then pretend reluctance as he took him wherever he wanted to go. 

Instead, he found the boy crouched at the bottom of the stairs on the fourth floor. His nose was bloody and his face wet with tears, but he was gazing ahead with the same vacant expression he had worn in the kitchen two days ago. He ignored Yami’s arrival.

Yami had been ready to yell, but this was not the same boy who had argued about going in the bath on his own this morning. 

“Finral. Kid. What are you doing?”

There was no sign that he heard Yami’s voice. He was trembling all over and the left leg was twitchy. 

“Finral,” he said again. Even the hand on the arm elicited no response. “Well, shit. What am I supposed to do with you now.”

There was no sign that he knew Yami was there, but his eyes were flickering as if he was watching something. His ki was absent, but there was something about his expression that made Yami think he was terrified.

It made Yami cautious when he said. “You think you can walk?”

There was no answer, so he pulled the boy up to stand. The left leg would not support his weight, so Yami lifted him. He was fed up with carrying this kid. He was supposed to be Yami’s ride. Not the other way round.

Finral did not protest. He was still trembling, but quiet. The impression of fear eased but his ki did not come back until they were back at the ground floor. He took a deep, shuddering breath, then blinked a couple of times. “Yami?” he whispered.

“Finral. You’re gonna give me a heart attack.

“Don’ wanna go to Ayre.”

“Yeah. Me neither. It’s a dump. Come on. Let’s get back to the common room.”

“Bu’ you keep me safe.”

That had, Yami thought, been a matter of opinion. If he had kept the boy safe, they would not be in this situation in the first place.

Gordon heard them and returned to the common room. He was frowning. He pointed to Finral’s bloody nose.

“I think he tripped on the staircase. Who knows how he managed the others. He was heading to the damn roof.”

Gordon murmured something. Yami imagined it was, ‘Is he like this because he fell?’

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. There’s no bruising. We need to call Owen.”

Finral was asleep again when he put him down on the sofa. Gordon cleaned up the blood on his face, but he still looked drawn and unwell. He did not twitch at the wet rag Gordon used.

Once he was settled, Yami contacted the infirmary.

It was not Owen who answered the call this time. Instead a finely dressed Recovery Mage that Yami did not know said, “Oh. The Black Bulls.” There was a sneer in his tone that made Yami want to reach through the image and punch him.

“Yeah. Where’s Owen?”

“Busy. He can’t be waiting beside a communicator all day.”

“Go and get him.”

“Absolutely not.” The mage bristled. “Owen is working in the infirmary today and has patients to look after. I am on triage and you will direct your queries to me. I'll decide what action is required.”

Yami took a deep breath. He lived by the adage that one should never piss off the people that you hoped would stitch you back together again if necessary. “I’m worried about Finral.”

The mage looked blank. 

“Finral Roulacase. He was… Shit. Can’t you get Owen and save me having to explain this. He was due to come back to see him tomorrow, but he said we were to call if things changed. So we are.”

The mage took out a quill and wrote Finral’s name on a piece of paper. “What is the nature of the change?”

“When Owen saw Finral yesterday he’d been confused. I found him wandering with no idea what he was doing. Owen said he thought he might have had a reaction to the painkillers and hadn’t been sleeping well. But then he did it again when Owen left. Only that time he was sleeping when we found him. When he got up this morning, he seemed better. Then he had a headache and threw up the new tablets. And now he’s wandered off again. I found him at the bottom of a set of stairs with a bloodied nose. He was drowsy and confused. He’s sleeping now.”

The mage continued to write when Yami finished.

“So, the patient is experiencing intermittent confusion. He had a serious head injury I understand. You say Owen told you to call back if anything changes, but it sounds like the symptoms are the same as they were when you talked to him.”

“Yes, but there’s something off…”

The mage sneered. “Something off. Hmm. I don’t think I remember that from my Recovery Mage training.”

Yami felt his temper fray, “Now look here you little…” The dark magic responded.

“No, Captain Yami of the Black Bulls.” The mage managed to infuse the squad name with such malice that Yami thought that punching him was too mild. “Owen does not have time to drop everything because you think ‘something is off’. He is at work in this infirmary with patients who require his expertise. He is not the personal Recovery Mage for your squad. Now. Unless you can tell me what is different in the patient’s presentation, I am sure that tomorrow’s review is perfectly adequate.”

“Shit. No. Get Owen on this communicator, or I swear I will come there and…”

“Come here? I believe that will be hard. Isn’t it your spacial mage that was injured?”

“I will come there and shove that paper so far down your throat that you’ll be shitting bits of it for weeks.”

“Threats do not work, Captain Yami. I have taken your details and I will discuss them with the attending Recovery Mage…”

“That better be fucking Owen.”

“...who happens to be Owen. And if we feel that a review is required before the scheduled appointment, we shall call you. Good day.”

The image went dark. Yami did not think it had been disconnected as he could still hear noises from the other side. He guessed it had been stuffed into a drawer. 

Yami resisted throwing their disc at the wall. It was hard. A mug was not so fortunate. 

Gordon said loud enough to be heard, “I think you showed remarkable restraint, Captain.”

“Didn’t make any difference though.”

Despite the noise of breaking crockery, Finral did not stir. 

Like yesterday afternoon, Finral slept. He roused once, but he was twitchy and confused. His speech was so slurred that it was almost incomprehensible. He closed his eyes again after a little while.

Yami tried to contact the infirmary again, but the image was still dark. 

He drank his tea, watched the boy sleep and fretted. Maybe the mage was right. This really wasn’t any different than he had described to Owen. But that was before it happened yesterday afternoon and today. The boy had been better, so maybe it was the tablets. But he had vomited the new ones back up again. All Yami’s instincts said that something was seriously wrong. 

Their options were limited. There was no way he could take Finral on a broom in this state, even if the weather conditions were perfect. A gust of wind rattled the windows to remind him that the conditions were far from perfect. Perhaps he could send Vanessa to rile up the Recovery Mages, but he had a feeling that they might postpone tomorrow’s visit as well. 

Finral was sleeping. He was comfortable and safe. If the mage spoke to Owen, maybe he would get back to them tonight, but even if not, they would only have to wait until tomorrow.

But perhaps there was something that Yami could do now to keep Finral safe. He left Gordon with the boy and went to find Henry. 

Yami found his room by letting loose a mana pulse, then following the slight drain to a room on the fifth floor. The door was blank, but when he knocked, Henry said, “Come… in.”

He was sitting on his bed, with a book balanced on his lap. Yami stayed at the door. “You look better.”

“Yes… having…. people... in the… building… helps…” He paused for a long moment, then continued. “Yami… is there… something.... wrong... with the… boy?”

“Finral?”

“His… energy… is off…… It feels… like… something… wrong…” Henry shrugged as if it was difficult to explain what he had sensed.

“Yeah. You could say. He’s wandering off. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, or why, but we found him asleep in the racquetball court yesterday.”

“Yes…. and the… kitchen… before.”

“How do you know that?”

“My… magic… is… linked to… the… house. I… feel what… the house... feels.”

“If we lose him, can you find him?”

“Yes…. But… Yami…. I… am… not… ready… for the… others… to know… I am… here. I… will… ask… the house… to watch… for him…”

“His name is Finral. Part of your team. Look. Gonna level with you. I don’t know how much control you have over where things are in the house, but Finral used to go to the roof when things were overwhelming at our old base. He cannot go on the roof like this.”

“I… understand… I will… try to… close… it off… as much… as… I can…”

“Thanks, Henry. And, look, I know the mana absorption is a problem, but these guys are chill. They’re going to like you.”

Henry gave a small, sad smile. “Thank… you… Captain… I… will… consider….”

“That’s great. Thanks Henry.”

“The house… likes them… We… will… keep them… safe…. I… would like… him… to be better…”

Finral was still asleep when Yami returned. Vanessa was in the common room with tea. She was still windswept from the start of the storm and had not changed out of her wet coat. It was a mark of how worried she was that the bag with the unopened wine bottles was still on the table. 

“He was fine this morning,” Yami explained. “He took some of the new painkillers then threw them up again. Instead of having a nap, he wandered to the third floor, and we’re back to this again.”

“What did Owen say?”

“I called them. Got a stuck up little shit who said he would talk to Owen, but wouldn’t let me speak to him. He said Owen was too busy to be the Black Bulls Recovery Mage.” He pulled out the communication disc and thumbed it on to the dark image. There were quiet muffled sounds as though it was still activated.

Vanessa swore. “That’s our only disc to the infirmary, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It's our only disc to the whole city. And it’s locked onto one inside a box. We never thought we needed another one.” Yami looked at the sleeping boy. He looked terrible. “The bastard said it didn’t sound like it was anything different than before, but, shit, it feels different. Like we get less of him back each time. I know Owen said be patient, but if we were in the city I’d drag someone round.”

Finral shifted in his sleep. The wind rattled at the window panes.

“I could go,” Vanessa said. “It’s only an hour by broom.”

“Only an hour in good conditions. The weather’s too dangerous for a broom.”

“I’m a good flyer. It would be fine.” As if to contradict her, the room was lit by a flash of lightning, followed by a heavy rumble of thunder.

Gordon waved his hands at them. 

Finral had been awakened by the thunder. Yami asked, “Are you with us properly this time?” 

The boy blinked twice, then whispered. “M’be. Yami?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’ remember wha’ happened.” His speech was slurred, but it was more intelligible than earlier. “I nee’ to pee.”

“You think you can walk?” Yami asked.

“Hmm. Yeah. Maybe.” But he made no move to try until Yami put out his arm.

Finral tried to pull himself up, but Yami did most of the work. The boy was trembling as he stood. “Shit, shit,” he whispered. “Feels like it's all in the soup today. Nothing ‘s workin’”

“In the soup? That’s a new one.”

“Is it? Jus’ can’t ge' it....” he trailed off.

“I could carry you. Again. Getting to be a habit.”

“Nah. I ca’ try.”

The left leg was dragging more than ever and he leaned into Yami’s support. Vanessa hovered on the other side. She waited at the door while Yami took him into the toilet. 

“When you’re better, Finral, you are going to take me to the toilet whenever I ask.”

The boy gave a small smile. “Sure, Yami. I could do that.”

“I’m going to tell Vanessa you said that.”

When the boy finished he looked at the left leg. “I don’ know this is gonna ge’ me back.”

“Come on then. I’ve already carried you everywhere. You need to eat more. You’re skin and bones.”

“Not hungry.”

“Not right now, idiot..”

“Okay.”

The boy was almost asleep in Yami’s arms by the time they returned to the common room. He tried his best with the cup that Gordon gave him, but he only managed half before his hands shook so much that he had to put it down. He was leaning into Gordon.

“Time for a real bed, kid.”

There was no sign that he heard. Yami carried him back to his room. The corridor in this wing that had led to a staircase earlier now ended in a blank wall. Nice job, Henry. 

Gordon chased the others away to get Finral changed again. The boy was sleeping peacefully when Yami and Vanessa popped their heads back round the door. The twitchiness was gone..

“That looks better? He’s not trembling so much,” Vanessa said. 

“Maybe,” Yami said. “That leg’s about useless. He can’t string a sentence together. But, yeah, maybe better. Gordon, can you stay with him for a bit? I’m going to see if that bastard’s taken the communicator out the cupboard.”

Gordon nodded. 

The communicator still showed dark when Yami thumbed it on. He yelled into it to see if someone would take it out of whatever dark space it had been left, but there was no success. 

He and Vanessa sat together drinking tea until Yami decided to relieve Gordon. 

“You’ll call me if there are any problems in the night. I’ve got a broom ready. I’ll manage the weather.”

“Thanks Vanessa.”


	3. Chapter 3

Yami had resolved not to sleep, but he was exhausted. The boy’s steady breathing and the rain on the windows lulled him into a doze in the dark, early hours.

He was woken by the room shaking. 

At first he thought it was an earthquake. He had experienced one as a young child in his homeland. The building had rattled and the ground had shaken. He remembered the sound of crashing as the lean-to building next door had collapsed. 

It was the same here. Everything trembled. A chair had fallen over. It was dark and stormy outside, but nothing that could affect the heavy stone of the building walls.

Finral was…

Oh shit.

His bed was empty and the bedcovers shoved back. 

Where had he gone?

Yami jumped out of bed and threw open the door without putting on his slippers. The corridor walls were still, so whatever had caused the disturbance was localised to the room. But he could feel shivers of mana running through the stonework.

He did not know where Vanessa’s room was, but he assumed it must be close. He yelled her name and heard her muffled response. Then he was distracted by a painting falling off the wall at the far end of the corridor.

He ran towards it. He could feel the disturbance in the walls and concentrated on its mana. There was a gradient. It was stronger to the left, down the stairs towards the common room. 

“I’m going downstairs,” he yelled as he continued on.

At the bottom of the stairs he had expected the vibration to be stronger towards the common room, but instead it led to the left. Towards the room with the bath.

Shit.

He reached it and was about to shove the door open when he heard a splash. It was not a loud sound, no louder than the normal noises from a large bathroom. But there was no reason for anyone to be in there making noises.

He swung the door open.

There was no time to process what he was seeing. His body moved by instinct. 

Later, in the quiet of the nights, Yami would see the scene in front of him without warning. The bath was still choppy with ripples. A steam haze filled the air. Finral was face down in the water. He was not moving. Blood spread across the little waves. 

The memory would often follow the sound of a body crashing into a wall in a derelict building in Ayre and the sight of blood dripping on the stone. 

But Yami was only able to recall that later. At the time he moved without thinking. He was in the bath and lifting the unconscious body out of the water before he realised what he was doing. It had only been a few seconds since the splash, but Finral was unresponsive as Yami pushed him onto the wet tiles. He climbed out and rolled the boy onto his side and hit his back. Who cared about the broken ribs.

For a moment there was no change. He was too still as he lay against Yami’s legs. Water pooled around them.

Once more Yami slapped the boy's back to dislodge the water. His memory ran back to Owen’s instructions on how to breath for someone else. Tilt the head back, pinch the nose and then a slow breath into the mouth. God, he had never wanted to do that again, and here he was considering it after less than a month.

Vanessa burst into the room as Finral vomited up a gallon of bathwater.

Yami took a breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. Finral coughed up more water and followed with a wheezy inhalation and more coughing. His eyes cracked open and he whispered, “Yami?” between wheezes.

“What the fuck were you doing in here?”

“I can’t…” His eyes flew open and he struggled against Yami. “It’s…” 

Yami helped the boy sit, and he panted and continued to cough. “Can’t feel leg,” he whispered. “Can’t breathe.”

Yami glanced at Vanessa. Her face was a tight frown. “I’m going to check the communicator. If I can’t get through, I’m going to the city. Never mind the weather.”

“Thanks Vanessa. Get Gordon.”

Gordon was already at the door.

Vanessa took one last glance into the room, then hurried away.

Finral was shuddering from the chill, so Yami lifted him away from the puddle of cold water. With Gordon’s help he stripped off the wet pyjamas and used warm towels to rub some heat back into the shivering limbs. The boy made no effort to help. 

Once he was dry, Yami carried him back to the common room and deposited him onto the sofa. He lay still and wheezed and shivered. He was too cold. As Gordon began to dress him in warm clothes, Yami fed dark magic into the fire and it blazed back into life. It’s heat filled the room but Finral was still shivering. Vanessa had left the useless communicator on the table. 

Gordon tucked the boy under piles of blankets. A little colour returned to his cheeks and the shivering slowly improved. His breathing still sounded rough, but he looked at Yami with something like recognition. There was none of his usual spark. It was like looking at Finral through clouded windows.

“How are you feeling?” Yami asked. He wanted to demand why Finral had been beside the bath in the first place. Why had he sneaked past Yami? What the hell was going on? 

He mumbled something.

“Bit louder, Finral.”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.”

“Well, shit, it’s okay. Whatever it is, we can help, but you’ve got to talk to us.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“I don’t know what you’re sorry for.”

Finral swallowed and with an obvious effort brought his gaze towards Yami’s face. “Sorry. Can’t get this right. Don’t remember. Can’t remember why… was something… Didn’t mean to go there… Was looking...”

“Shh. Okay.” He looked at Gordon for support, but the other man shrugged and muttered something. “Vanessa’s going to get Owen. He’ll sort you out.”

“Yeah,” he murmured. But there was something about the way that he said it that set Yami’s alarms ringing. The boy was looking at the wall as though responding to something else in the room.

“Finral,” Yami started to say. 

His eyes rolled back and his whole body began to convulse. Well shit. 

Gordon and Yami pulled off most of the blankets and got the boy onto his side. There was blood and spit on his lips. He made small grunting noises with each wheezy breath. 

Seizures had been on Owen’s list of complications. After the past few days, maybe they should have expected it. Confusion, mood changes, muscle problems, headaches, seizures. Was he trying to get them all?

There was nothing to do but wait for it to run its course. Gordon was stroking Finral's hair and murmuring reassurances.

Yami pulled on the dark magic and let it fill in his fury and fear. The boy was becoming more confused every time he woke up. What was he going to be like when he woke up from this? The left leg was deteriorating. He had not eaten for days. Where was Vanessa? Where the hell was Owen? 

He tried to be calm. It would take at least an hour to reach the city in these conditions. Then Vanessa would have to find the Recovery Mage. Yami did not doubt her ability to clear the way, but it would take time. She would have to convince Owen to come, and get a spacial mage to make a portal back. It could be another hour. 

Never mind calm. He let the magic fill his katana and brought it down through a chair. Fibre and woodchip flew everywhere. It was not enough. He wanted to destroy something. Anything. He raised the katana again, but paused when Gordon said his name.

The seizure had stopped and Finral’s breathing was just the wheeze it had been before the convulsion. There was blood running from the corner of his mouth again. 

Again? There had been blood from the boy’s mouth before. At first Yami thought he was remembering carrying him through the woods, but no. It was more recent than that. 

His lips had been bloody when Vanessa had found him sleeping in the racquetball court. 

He was suddenly sure that this was not Finral’s first seizure. What had they been missing? 

Gordon went for tea for something to do while they waited. Yami did not leave the common room. Finral had escaped from him twice when he was meant to be sleeping. But he was so still and his breathing so wheezy he did not even look like he was going to wake. Yami sat and watched.

Gordon had not returned when Finral’s breath hitched again. His muscles contracted and he was back in the throes of a convulsion the same as the first. Yami took over Gordon’s gentle pressure on the boy’s arm, but it was only because he could not think of anything else to do. It lasted longer this time and by the time it finished the muscle contractions had weakened. That felt like a bad thing. Gordon had returned with the tea, but it sat cooling on the table.

It was not even obvious that the seizure had restarted the third time. The muscular contractions were more like a fine tremble, not dissimilar to the shivering when he had come out of the water. The small grunting exhalations were so quiet it was easy to miss them in the wheezing. His face was contorted into a grimace and the blood from his lip continued to flow. His hands were cold, and his face pale.

Yami felt the pull of mana in the garden. A portal. 

Vanessa pushed the common room door open. She was soaking wet and windswept. Her cheeks were blistered from the wind.

And thank god, there was Owen, with his pyjamas on and a bag of medical equipment clutched in his hand. His hair was sticking up at angles from sleep. 

He said, “Oh shit. How long has he been having seizures?” 

Vanessa gasped.

“This is the third one,” Yami said. “It’s lasted longer than the other two.”

Owen was pulling on his water magic even as he put down his bag and pulled up a chair. As soon as the magic made contact, the seizure stopped and the breathing settled back to the simple wheezing. “Talk,” Owen said. 

“What has Vanessa told you?”

Vanessa crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at Yami. “I told him to come.”

“She said if I didn’t she’d knock me out and carry me here. Damn,” he looked at Finral, “she was right, but I need to know what’s been happening. Why didn’t you call sooner?”

Yami could not help the dark magic that swelled through him. The air around Gordon began to hum as he pulled on his magic too. Vanessa was the cool head. “I haven’t told him, Yami. He doesn’t know.”

Yami growled but let his magic fade. “We called the infirmary yesterday. The Recovery Mage I spoke to said he would speak to you. Then he locked out our communication disc so we couldn’t reach anyone. That’s why Vanessa had to come and fetch you.”

Owen’s usually placid face turned stormy. There was a flare in his magic that he had to pull back under control. “I… I can’t sort that at the moment. I will though. Tell me about Finral.”

“After you left, he wandered off between the kitchen and the common room. Vanessa found him asleep in the racquetball room. His lip was bleeding,” Yami pointed to the trail of blood from the boy’s mouth now. “Like that.”

Owen nodded. He could make the same deduction Yami had.

“He was asleep most of the afternoon, then all night too. When he got up yesterday morning, he was back to how he had been last week. Irritated at everyone, headchey, but alert. He said he couldn’t remember you visiting. He took some of the new tablets for the headache, but he vomited the whole lot up after half an hour. I left him here asleep and I came back and he’d gone again. He was on the third floor and it looked like he’d slipped trying to get up a flight of stairs. His nose was bloody, but he wasn’t hurt anywhere else. He was out of it again all afternoon. His leg was worse. That’s when we called the infirmary and got put through to that mage. He refused to let me speak to you. He said he would tell you himself.”

There was another flare of Owen’s magic that he brought back under control. His brows were furrowed. “What happened tonight?”

“He sneaked past me while I was sleeping. I found him in the bathroom. In the fucking water. Face down.”

Owen turned to face Yami. “How long?”

“Only seconds. No more than a minute. I heard the splash just before I opened the door. He coughed up a whole lot of water when I got him out. That’s when Vanessa left to get you. We dried him off and brought him back here. He was awake enough to say that he couldn’t feel his leg, and that he was sorry for something. Then he started with the seizures.”

“You said he’s had three since you brought him here.”

“Yeah. He was sleeping in between. That last one was the longest though.”

“Okay. Pass me my bag.”

Yami pushed it over. The Recovery Mage pulled out a syringe and a small vial of liquid. Once he had drawn it up, he had Yami hold Finral’s arm straight so that the injection could go into the vein. “This is going to put him out for a bit. The magic stopped the seizure, but when I release it he’s going to slip back in again if I don’t do something to stop it. This medication puts him into deep unconsciousness and gives the brain a chance to rest. That should break this cycle of seizures. It’s not going to help with the breathing, but that’s the lesser concern at the moment.”

The recovery magic faded and Gordon helped Owen arrange Finral on his side with his airway open. “Gordon. Would you mind monitoring him for me? This isn’t just a deep sleep, it can affect the lungs and heart too. Unfortunately I don’t have anything that will put the brain to sleep without also affecting the body. His breathing mustn’t get any slower than this. And his pulse must not be less than twenty in half a minute.” Owen handed him a small hourglass and then drew up two more syringes that he left on the table top. 

Gordon nodded. He took Finral’s wrist and pressed into the pulse point.

Owen pushed his glasses up his nose and turned to Yami and Vanessa. “I have to start with an apology. I should have realised what was happening when I saw him before. He’s been having complex partial seizures for at least the past three days. The recovery spell can detect the effects even now. They’ve been increasing in frequency and severity. That’s why it took longer for him to come round, and why he was getting more confused. I think this afternoon and evening they’ve been almost constant.”

“We never saw him convulse like that before,” Yami said.

“Only the injured part of the brain was involved. He could still walk and talk while the seizure was happening, and might have kept some kind of awareness.”

“I think he was trying to get to the roof when I found him at the bottom of the stairs.”

“That would make sense. On the other hand, these were generalised seizures. The electrical misfiring went from localised in the injured area to the whole brain and shut it down. Usually it’s self limiting and the brain resets back to normal. He’d be a bit out of it, but after a sleep he’d be better.”

“That’s what had happened in the racquetball court,” Vanessa said.

“I think so. But what happened tonight is much more dangerous. Constant seizures, or seizures with only a short break can cause long term complications by affecting the structures of the brain or the chemicals within it. I don’t know if this episode was caused by the water, or if the fall was caused by the seizures. Whatever it was, it’s turned a relatively simple problem into something much more complicated.” He sighed. “Which is why I have to apologise. If I had recognised this at the start I could have given him some tablets and we'd have had no more problems. Instead, he’s had three days of intermittent convulsions, a near drowning and now a prolonged period of generalised, unopposed seizure activity.”

“That wasn’t you. That mage who took my call…”

“Will no longer be working in the infirmary by the morning, Yami. I’m going to have to explain the situation to my boss, and there will be repercussions, I guarantee. If you had waited until I was due to come tomorrow, it’s likely that the damage would have been permanent. Prolonged seizures like this can be fatal.” 

Yami handed the Recovery Mage a cup of tea. “We trust you to deal with it,” he said, for Vanessa’s benefit as much as Owen’s. Her ki had been building into violent fury as Owen talked. 

Owen nodded. “Thank you.”

“Now, you said you’ve given him something to put him under. What’s in the other syringes? What’s the plan?”

“The other syringes contain reversing agents. Finral’s been fighting this off for more than three days so he’s already on the edge. If the medication I’ve used slows his breathing or pulse too much, I can reverse it and put him back into the recovery spell. That’s why I’ve got Gordon to monitor him.”

“Wouldn’t a spell be better?” Vanessa asked.

“Not this time. The spell can pause the seizure, but it can’t repair the brain more than it has. This is a consequence of the body’s own healing. The medication is the only way we can put the body and brain to sleep and let the electrical misfiring settle back down. I don’t know any kind of magic that can simulate that.”

Vanessa nodded and drank her tea.

“I’m going to try to keep him under for a couple of hours if I can. As soon as it's reversed, I’ll start him on treatment to prevent further seizures. It’s going to be at a higher dose than I would have used if I’d spotted this days ago, so there is an increased risk of side effects. And it won't prevent all of them. We’ll plan for that in the morning.” He glanced to the window where dawn was beginning to lighten the sky. “Well, later in the morning.”

“Owen,” Vanessa said. She leaned forward onto her knees. “You keep saying you should have recognised what was happening. I don’t know anything about this stuff, but it doesn’t sound like you could have seen he was having seizures then. It really did seem like he was a bit muddled and the painkillers were affecting him. You told us to call back if something changed. And we did. Maybe we should have called earlier. But I don’t think you can take any responsibility for this.” Her tone made it clear who she thought should be taking responsibility. She glanced at Yami. “Isn’t that right, Captain Yami.”

“Yeah. She’s right, Owen. Don’t go taking this on yourself. You got here in time. Concentrate on sorting him out for us, yeah?”

Owen ran his hand across his neck. “Thanks. I’m not sure I deserve it. But thanks.”

They drank tea as the sun rose. Charmy appeared at one point. She took one look at the scene, frowned and left muttering. The only sound was the occasional turning of the small hourglass that Gordon was using to keep track of thirty seconds.

Owen checked Finral’s pupil reaction, his breathing and muscle tone. He seemed satisfied as he gave him another injection from his bag. He re-joined Yami and Vanessa. “It’s working for the moment. You know, this could take a while to sort out. The dose has to be fine tuned, and it’s not an exact branch of recovery magic. I could take him to the infirmary and get him monitored there.” 

But as he spoke, Yami felt Owen’s ki was reluctant. He was suggesting it because he thought he should, not because he thought it was the right idea. Yami chose to listen to what the ki was telling him. “Owen. You tell us he has to go to the Capital because it's for the best, then we’ll agree, won’t we Vanessa.” She nodded. “But if we can manage this here then we’d rather do that. I don’t want the bastard who sabotaged our communicator near Finral. Ever.”

Owen signed in relief. “Yes. It’s for the best I think. This is going to cause unpleasantness in the infirmary. You don’t need to know about the politics of it, but suffice to say, Finral is better off somewhere else until it’s sorted out. This isn’t the first incident of its kind, but it is the first one we’ve got magic knights to back up. And potentially a fatal outcome if it hadn’t been for your actions. My boss has wanted to clean house for a long time, and much as I approve, I’d rather Finral wasn't there when the broom was being swept.”


	4. Chapter 4

Charmy returned with sheep cooks bearing breakfast. She handed around freshly baked rolls with butter and ham, and plenty of coffee and tea. She never asked what had happened, and did not object when Gordon refused her offer of food. 

Once they had eaten and the sun had risen, Owen said, “I’m going to reverse the sedation now. I don’t want to leave him under while I speak to my boss and get this sorted out. You can get some breakfast Gordon.”

Gordon said something.

“I know it’s not a problem,” Owen replied. “Thank you. He’s lucky to have you as a friend.”

Yami glanced at Vanessa, who shrugged. Could Owen hear what Gordon was saying?

Owen used one of the prepared syringes. As soon as he injected the contents, Finral’s breathing changed. His eyes flickered under his eyelids and his muscles twitched. 

Yami tensed as he prepared for the seizure to restart. But when Finral’s eyes opened he scanned the room and said, “Wha’s wrong?”

Yami snorted. Little shit. 

Owen caught Finral’s eye. “Finral. Do you know where you are?”

“Hmm. Home. Black Bulls.”

“And how do you feel?”

“Tired. Sore. Don’t know why? Mouth hurts. Wha' happened to the chair?”

“Yami happened to it." Owen paused to catch the boy's attention again. "Finral, I’m going to give you an injection. It's going make you drowsy, but it’s okay to sleep. Gordon’s going to be with you.”

“Than’s.” His eyes were already closing again. “Like Gordon. Trus’ Gordon.”

Gordon beamed. He put a hand on Finral’s arm. Finral grabbed it and cuddled into its warmth. If Gordon could have grinned any wider his face would have broken. 

Finral flinched at the second injection then his breathing evened back out into sleep. He kept Gordon’s arm tucked in close. 

Owen gave them both a fond smile. “That was the drug to prevent the seizures. It’s a high dose at the moment to get it into his system. We’re going to have to wait for a few hours to see how well it’s working. Then I can titrate it up or down as required. Hopefully downwards because it’s going to make him sleepy, but he might need it higher. Gordon, you don’t have to monitor his breathing and pulse as often, perhaps every fifteen minutes or so for the next hour.”

Gordon nodded. He murmured a reply.

“I don’t think he’ll have a seizure, but you’ll need to let me know that too.” He turned to Yami and Vanessa. “I’m going to speak to my boss. I’d like you to join me.”

“We can use the dining room.”

“Thank you.”

Owen used his own communicator disc to the infirmary, because the Bull’s one was still locked out. Charmy set out tea mugs and plates of cookies for them, then skipped back to sit with Gordon.

Yami knew Owen’s boss by reputation. He did not think he had ever met her face to face and he did not know her name because Owen always referred to her as ’boss’. So when the communicator image centred onto a familiar older woman, Yami had to contain his surprise.

“Owen,” she demanded. “What’s happened?”

“That’s the Rednicht woman,” Yami said, before he could stop himself. “From when the Recovery Mages came here. You put me in a recovery spell that I didn’t want.”

“Nice to see you again, Captain Yami” She was in her late sixties and he stood by his initial impression. Arguing with her would be fun, but futile.

“I wondered if you would remember,” Owen said. Then, to Vanessa, “This is Rednicht. She’s in charge of the infirmary. This is Vanessa. She’s one of the Black Bulls too.”

Vanessa nodded, but Rednicht scowled. “Good, good, nice to meet you again and everything. What happened Owen? You wouldn’t be calling me at home from the Black Bull’s hideout unless it was important. Has something happened to the young man? We discussed his case two days ago and you were going to check him today. At a more hospitable hour.”

Owen sighed. “I came back because he’s been getting worse since I saw him. Only I didn’t know because…” He glanced at Yami.

“Because the mage we called yesterday said that Owen was too busy to speak to us and it didn’t sound like anything was different. He said he’d pass on the message and if Owen thought it was important he’d call us back. Then the bastard locked us out so we couldn’t call anyone. Vanessa had to fly to the city.”

“I never got the message, Rednicht. You know it was Harallen on duty for triage yesterday. It must have been him that took the call.”

She sighed, and ran her hands across her eyes. “Ah. Shit. You’re just trying to spoil my month, aren’t you. First thing. How is the boy?”

“He was lucky Vanessa left when she did. He had collapsed into a bath of water. While she was gone he had three generalised seizures. The magic shows he’s been having partial ones for days, which explains the increasing confusion and wandering. I should have picked it up when I visited but it seemed more like a reaction to the medication. I never put him under the spell. That’s on me.”

Yami interrupted. “He didn’t help you. He said he had the pills that morning, but he hadn’t had any for days.”

“I should have explored it more. This would have been easier to treat if I had worked it out then.”

Rednicht’s expression was grim. For a moment she was thoughtful, then said, “I agree Owen,” Then she turned to Yami, “Captain Yami, I understand your point, but given the extent of the young man’s injury, seizures were highly likely. Owen should have considered them a possible cause for the change in his presentation.”

Vanessa tried to interrupt, “But…”

“Allow me to finish, young lady,” Rednicht said with the air of an irritated teacher. “I believe that, given the information two days ago, your clinical reasoning was sensible, Owen. You made plans to anticipate future changes. Perhaps you would have been prudent to find out how many ways these knights had to contact you in case there was a…. a problem with one of them.”

Vanessa said again, “But, Ma’am.”

“Still not finished. So, while I understand the reasoning, I think we agree that you should have considered seizures as a cause of the new confusion. I admit, it is not the most significant aspect of this problem, but I cannot ignore it. I believe that some time to consider your actions would be beneficial. I am going to suspend you for two weeks.”

Yami and Vanessa both said, “BUT…”

She waved a hand at the two Black Bulls. “Hush. Allow me to finish. Now, as you are unable to return to the infirmary while you are suspended, perhaps you could see if any of your friends need a live-in Recovery Mage for a couple of weeks.” She did not wink. But she might have. “Now. Describe the treatment you have initiated and planned.”

Owen smiled. He described to Rednicht the treatment he had commenced, and his plans to adjust it over the next few days. She nodded, and added in a couple of other medication names as alternatives. Yami and Vanessa were lost after the first five syllable drug name. 

“Adequate,” Rednicht said when they had finished. “I expect daily updates on his condition. You will be back to work in two weeks and there will be changes when you return.” She became stern. “You will accept your place in them, Owen. That is my condition for keeping you away from the shit show the infirmary is about to become.”

Owen blushed. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, my dear. I fully intend to. I’ve a lovely little farm on the edge of the common realm with some chickens. I look forward to my retirement very much.” Then she turned to Yami and Vanessa. “Please accept my apologies for the deficiencies in my colleague’s care yesterday. I assure you that the matter will be dealt with in the harshest possible way. I may require your testimony at some point. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” they both said. 

“Thank you. Owen. I’ll have your stuff dropped off. And some supplies.”

She closed the call on her end before Owen could reply. 

Owen let out a long breath and wiped his hand across his brow. “That went better than I hoped.”

“So, to get this straight, did she tell you to stay here while she sorts out the mess you caused?” Yami asked. He liked that woman very much.

“Yes. There’s going to be fallout from her reorganisation and it’ll be easier if she can say that she’s punished me for my part. Some powerful people are going to be upset by what she’s going to do.”

“And what did she mean about accepting your place within them?”

“She’s going to put me in charge. She’s been trying to do it for months, but I’ve always said no. She’s got a political mind to rival the Wizard King.” He rolled his shoulders to release the tension. “So. Do you have a room I could use for a couple of weeks?”

Yami grinned and slapped his shoulder. “You bet.”

Vanessa said, “Does this make you an honorary Black Bull?”

He bowed. “For two weeks I am your squad’s very own Recovery Mage.” He became serious for a moment. “Clinically it makes things much easier too. It will allow me to monitor the treatment the way I would in the infirmary. Yes, very satisfactory indeed. I’d like to go and check on him, and perhaps relieve Gordon for a moment.”

He left, but Vanessa caught Yami’s arm before he followed. “How did you know where Finral went at the bottom of the stairs? And if he sneaked past you when you were sleeping, how did you wake up?”

Yami stopped. He had forgotten with the urgency. But damn. He had woken up when the room had shaken. He had followed the mana in the walls towards the bathroom. If he had woken minutes later, he would have been too late. If he had gone towards the common room instead of the bathroom, Finral would have drowned. He had a good idea what had woken him. He needed to find Henry. He looked at Vanessa. 

“You ready to meet the ghost?”

Henry’s room was in the same place as it had been yesterday. Yami was able to lead Vanessa without relying on the mana drain. “You want to tell me what’s going on?” Vanessa demanded at the top of the fourth flight of stairs. “You can’t be serious about a ghost.”

“He’s not a ghost. His name is Henry. This is his house.”

Vanessa stopped walking. “Yami. Explain now. What are you talking about? Is there someone else living in our hideout?”

“Technically, I think we’re living in his hideout. But…” he waved a hand to stop her objections. “He says we can. He likes us living here and we’re helping him out.”

“I am not walking another step until you tell me who this person is and why you’ve never told us about him.”

“His name is Henry. He has some strange kind of mana draining disease, or curse, or something. It means he can’t be around people without absorbing their mana. Owen knew his parents and that was why there was a communication disc to the infirmary when I brought Finral here. Owen had been consulting with them trying to find a cure for Henry. I think his parents might have given up, or lost hope or just had enough. They jumped out a window months before we arrived. Henry doesn’t know what happened to them. I found him, and asked him if we could stay here, and he agreed. He said that he could take a little of our mana and it would help him survive. I think he might have died without us. 

“Yesterday, I asked if he could keep Finral from getting to the roof, seeing as he’s the one that moves the rooms around. He said he’d try to keep an eye out for the kid. Then, last night the walls in Finral’s room started to shake, and I followed a mana trail to the bathroom. I think Henry saved his life.”

Vanessa nodded. “So why haven’t we got to meet him yet? I bet we could work out something for the drain?”

“He asked me not to tell anyone he’s here. I’m hoping he doesn’t mind meeting you.”

“Yami, if he saved Finral’s life, I owe him everything.”

“Yeah, I thought so too. Come on. Round here.”

Before Yami opened the door, Vanessa obviously felt the mana absorption and said, “Woah. You weren’t kidding. Is this… safe?”

“I’ve not worked out any other way than just standing at the door for short periods.” He knocked then pushed the door open. “Although this is worse than normal.”

The drain on his mana was like the suction from a powerful whirlpool. Yami took a step back from the door as it swung open. 

Henry was sitting on the side of the bed. His head was in his hands and his whole body was rocking. Was he crying?

“Shit, Henry. What’s wrong?” Yami demanded.

“I can’t feel him. What... happened? Is he dead? I tried to help.” His speech was faster with his distress.

“Henry. He’s okay. You did it. Shit,” Yami took another step back from the room door. “Henry,” he shouted. “He’s okay.”

It must have got through, because the drain eased a bit. Vanessa staggered and put her hand onto the wall for support. 

“He… is… okay? I do… not… feel… him.”

“Owen’s here. You met him before. He’s going to sort Finral out. He had to knock him out so that he would sleep and stop the seizures. He’s given him other medication so he’s probably still out of it. I guess that’s why you can’t feel him now. But he’s going to be okay.”

The drain eased again, back to what Yami was used to. “You... found... him? I could.... feel... something... wrong”

“We got to him in time. You saved his life.”

Henry took his hands away from his face and looked at the door. His eyes widened at Vanessa and he flinched in slow motion. “Who…”

“This is Vanessa.”

Vanessa took her hand off the wall and gritted her teeth. She stumbled past Yami towards Henry. He leaned back in panic, but she was not to be deterred. She shuffled to the side of the bed, and put her arms around his neck and leaned into him in an approximation of a hug. It only lasted a second before she staggered backwards looking nauseous. “Nice to meet you…” She managed to mutter before hurrying down the hall to throw up in a pot plant.

“Va...nesss….a.” Henry said with something like awe. He was staring after her. He touched his shoulders where she had leaned into him. “Va...nesss...a,” he said again.

“Hi Henry. Nice to meet you,” she shouted once she had finished vomiting. “Thank you for looking after Finral. I’m… I’m going to get a drink.”

Henry was still gazing towards her voice. He had not taken his hand away from where she had touched him. 

Yami grinned. “I told you they would like you.”

“No… one… has… has… done… that… before,” Henry mumbled.

“You saved her best friend’s life, Henry.”

“I… like… him… too.”

Yami’s head was swimming. “Sorry, Henry. It’s bad today. I wanted to say thank you.”

Henry smiled. “I… am… glad… to help… my… team.”

“I’ve got to go. But thank you again.”

Vanessa still looked green and shaky. She was looking at the stairs as if she had never seen a more difficult obstacle. Yami offered her an arm to lean on. “How does he live like that? Why is he like that?” she asked. 

“No idea. Maybe we could ask Owen. But I think he likes you.”

“I like him too. But, I’m not giving him a hug again unless he saves someone else’s life. I need you to find me wine.”

Yami laughed at her. He dropped her off in the common room with Owen, Gordon and sleeping Finral. Gordon looked concerned, but Owen watched her with a considering gaze. “I met someone,” she explained and put her head in her hands. “I have a headache and Yami is getting me wine.”

Owen handed her a glass of water and said, “Drink this first.”

“Oh, you are no fun at all.”

Yami did find her wine though. He thought she deserved it. 

Charmy provided lunch for everyone. Owen’s eyes lit up in delight at the spread, and Charmy glowed. Two weeks of Charmy’s devotion to Owen’s culinary experiences was going to add inches to everyone’s waistline. 

Finral slept through the happy chattering. Owen checked him every half an hour or so, and gave the boy another injection. There was no sign of him waking, but his colour was better and he no longer twitched. Yami let himself nap with his feet on the coffee table and a beer balanced on the arm of the chair. There had been too many disturbed nights.

In the late afternoon, Owen’s stuff appeared on the front lawn in two untidy burlap sacks. There was a small box with vials of medication and a letter. Gordon offered to help Owen bring them in and then find him a room. Vanessa went to bed to sleep off the mana depletion. She said it felt like the worst hangover ever.

In the silence of the common room, Yami became aware that he was being watched. Finral was tracking his movements. “Hello, Finral,” Yami said.

“Yami,” the boy answered. “I feel really weird. All… fizzy. Like someone turned the mana onto high. I can feel all the magic.” His eyes flickered to the corner of the room, as though something caught his attention. Then back to Yami again. He giggled. “You look really weird.”

This was not the conversation that Yami had expected to be having. “What do you mean?”

“Is weird. You’re sort of… stretched. Can’t see the end of you.” He giggled again, then brought his right arm up to rub over his eyes. “Is… Don’t know… Is something.”

“Are you seeing something?”

“The lights? Yeah. Sort of… sort of…”

Yami clicked his fingers in front of Finral’s eyes. “To me, Finral.”

“Hmm. What do you want Yami?”

The door opened and Owen and Gordon entered. Gordon was muttering, and Owen replied, “Yes. It’s a good bedroom.” He spotted Finral awake. “Good afternoon. How are you feeling Finral?”

“Oh, I’m okay, I think.” He coughed then gave a dazed smile. “Owen? When’d you get here?” He kept glancing into the corners of the room. 

“Describe okay to me.”

“Fizzy. There are lights. And I can’t feel my leg. One of them. Can’t remember which one. That one.” He pointed with his right hand to the left leg, and then to the left arm. “Hand not really listening either. Did you give me something? Don’t remember this before. Feels all jumbled.”

His ki reflected the confusion. He was aware that something was wrong, but it was overlaid with a serene disconnection. 

“How much do you want to know at the moment?” Owen said.

“Tell me. You’ve got a nice voice, Owen. But,” his face creased in concentration, “Not sure how much I’m gonna remember. The butterflies keep getting in the way of your face.”

It was impossible not to find that a little bit endearing. “Are you high?” Yami asked.

“No. Maybe. Yes. Owen? Am I high?”

“Yes. I think so. You were having seizures, so I’ve given you medication to prevent them. It’s a high dose, so don’t worry if you feel a little spaced out.”

“Owen,” he said with the same effort to concentrate. “I feel very spaced out. Spaced out spatial mage.” He giggled again. “You look all… weird.”

Owen smiled. “It’ll wear off in a bit.”

“Umm. The lights are nice. Hi Gordon. Hold on. Wait. You said seizures? I should be more worried about that.” 

“Maybe. We’ll talk about it in an hour or so.”

Finral glanced away again towards the corner of the room.

“Hey, Yami. Come here. I’m cold.”

Yami tried to edge away and said, “I’m going to…”

Owen gave him a shove onto the seat beside Finral. Bastard. 

The boy squirmed onto Yami’s lap. He was uncoordinated and the left leg and arm were noticeably weaker. But that did not stop him from finding a comfortable position leaning against Yami. He relaxed like a contented cat. Yami’s appeal to Owen was ignored, but he did bring over tea.

“It’s a shame you can’t see the lights. Are these hallucinations? I can hear them twinkling. That can’t be normal, but it’s nice. Like tasting a portal. You’re warm Yami. I can hear your heartbeat like footsteps. Like footsteps in the snow. Thump, thump, thump.”

“How long is this going to go on for, Owen?”

“It depends. Awake and not have seizures is good.”

“I’m not sure I feel awake,” Finral said dreamily. “I feel like I’m in between portals. I didn’t know that was a place.”

“If things are okay, you get another injection in two hours. Maybe sooner if necessary.”

“Hmm. Needles not good Owen.”

“Maybe tomorrow you can have the tablets. We’ll see. But for today we need to know what dose to give you, so injections. Sorry. The euphoria should be better in a couple of hours.”

Finral giggled again. “Euphoria. That’s a word for this. This feels euphorie.”

“You’re making less sense than usual, Finral.” Yami told him.

“You try hearing the sunshine. See if you make sense.”

The nonsense chatter continued for an hour or so. It was like a background noise that could be tuned out. 

He was talking about the lights again, when Yami became aware of the boy’s leg trembling. He said, “Finral,” at the same moment the words stuttered to a stop mid-sentence. There was a new tension in his muscles and his ki seemed to vanish. His left hand was clenching at the blanket.

“Owen,” Yami said.

Owen had looked up when the words stopped. “We let it run for the moment.”

“Can’t you stop it with magic again?”

“No. It doesn’t work like that. Talk to him, I’ll give him his next dose now.” He was drawing up another vial of liquid. 

Hell, what do you say when someone tells you to talk? “Hey, kid. Owen’s going to give you another injection. Sorry. Then you can tell me about the lights again.”

The boy shivered at the injection, then moments later took a deep swallowing breath and relaxed into Yami again. 

“So, that’s what he was doing when he kept wandering off? That was one of the partial seizures?” Yami asked. 

“Yes. I think he was aware enough to go looking for someone when he was on his own. Which was why he only wandered when there wasn’t someone nearby.”

“He was looking for us?”

“Maybe. Someone anyway.”

“The first time he wouldn’t settle down until he was holding my hand. Then he went to sleep. Like this.” The boy was drooling onto his shirt. “What do you do now? He’s already had your treatment.”

“Yes. We might have to keep the doses higher than I hoped. He’s going to be like this for a couple of days. He’ll sleep a lot, and likely be a bit spaced out the rest of the time.”

Yami rubbed his hands over his face. Shit, but this stuff was exhausting. 

“Yami. When was the last time you had a break? From this?”

“What do you mean?”

“You came here directly from Ayre. You’ve watched him nearly die twice in the past month. You’ve been under massive stress for weeks. You haven’t been away from him and this building in all that time. Perhaps it’s a good time to have a break.”

“I don’t think so, Owen. I got the kid into this mess. I don’t think I’m ready to bail yet.”

“I understand. But right now, we just have to give it time. He isn’t going to need you around when he’s so doped up on these meds that he can’t see straight. He is going to need you when I start taking the dose down and he has to recover the strength in the leg and arm. He's going to have to learn to live with the fact that these seizures might not go away and he’ll need you rested then. Not exhausted and tetchy because you wore yourself out doing something that other people were there to do.”

Damn, Owen. Always so sensible. Maybe he was right. For nearly four weeks all he had been able to think about was this kid. He was tired, but it was more a weariness of the same four walls and the constant uncertainty of what was going to happen next. He growled, “I’ll think about it. I’ve got to go speak to someone. Then I’m going for a cigarette.”

He went back up all the stairs to Henry’s room again and knocked. Henry was calmer and the mana drain was minimal from the corridor. “I wanted to tell you he’s okay.”

“He… was… there… then… he… was… not. He… was… not… moving… this time.”

“He had a little fit. Owen calls them partial seizures. It didn’t last long, but he’s had more medicine that’s put him back out. He’s okay though. Just sleeping. You should come meet him. You’d like him.”

“I… would… like… that... someday.”

“Me or Vanessa or Owen will tell you how he is. But he is okay for now.”

Henry touched his shoulder where Vanessa had hugged him, “Is… Va...ness...a… okay?”

“Yeah. She was going to sleep it off. But I’ve seen her looking worse after a hangover on a Tuesday morning.”

“Thank… you.”

“I might go to town for a day or two. Owen’s here to look after Finral for a bit, and he’s right. I need a breather. But Owen and Vanessa know you’re here.”

“The house… will… keep… an eye… on him.”

“Thanks Henry. Again.”

He considered going back down all the stairs to smoke in the garden, but he found himself ascending the stairs almost without thinking. The corridors became smaller and more tortuous in what must have been Henry’s attempt to limit access. But he found the small door that opened to the box bedroom with a large window. It opened onto a flat piece of the roof large enough for a couple of people. 

Yami sat in the chill of the early evening air and looked down at the forest. He would show this to Finral when he was ready. 

Owen was right. As usual. Coming up here felt like an escape from the worry and the… emotions downstairs. He should take the opportunity for a break while he could. Maybe he could crash with Jack for a couple of days, talk about things that weren’t medicines or seizures or head injuries. He could not ask for Finral to be in better care than the future head of the infirmary.

Yet, he still felt guilty. He had got Finral into this mess. All those complications were because he, Yami, had taken the boy to Ayre and got him so badly knocked about that he might continue to have seizures forever. Shit. 

“You busy?” Vanessa’s voice said as she climbed out of the window beside him. “When Owen said you went for a cigarette, I checked the garden first. Do you know you can see the little light from the end of the cigarette from there?”

“Hi Vanessa. You better?”

“Yeah. That’s really something. I felt like I’d been on a four day spree. It’s worn off now though. Poor Henry.”

“It isn’t usually as bad as that. I think he was panicking about Finral.”

“I like him even more. When you go into the city, I’ll keep an eye on them both.”

“Hmph. You been talking to Owen? I never said I was going.”

“But you know he’s right don’t you. Finral’s got Owen to himself at the moment. You’re running yourself into the ground with this.” She paused. “I… I think I need to step up. I’ve let you do it all, and you’ve let me. But I need to stop running away now. You need to go get hammered and gamble money you don’t have for a couple of days. Recharge.”

“Are you trying to be the sensible one here, Vanessa?”

She grinned. “You haven’t been away from this building in weeks, and even then it was just to collect stuff and then come straight back. Let us take care of Finral for a bit. He’s going to need you to kick his ass when he has to do exercises for that leg. You know Owen’s going to be too soft on him.”

Yami knew she was humouring him. Owen was anything but soft. But she was still making good points. The guilt was there, but he said, “I could see what Jack’s doing for the next couple of days.”

“He says he expects you tomorrow morning. He’s got to stock up on beer and extra blankets for when he beats your ass at poker again. Whatever that means.”

Of course the tricky witch would have already spoken to him. He really had no hope with this lot.

They went back inside when it was too dark to see and snow began to blow through the wind. 

Finral was still fast asleep, doped up on Owen’s medications. Yami carried him back to his room and Gordon got him changed while Yami stood at the door. Owen said, “Gordon’s going to stay awake with him tonight, even though that stuff’s going to keep him knocked out for hours. We’ll know if anyone opens the door too.” He reached up and tied a small bell on string to the lintel of the doorframe. If the door moved, the bell would ring. 

“Should have thought of that last night.”

“Yami…”

“Never mind. Look. I’m gonna take your advice. I’ll get away for a couple of days. Vanessa’s already spoken to Jack. But you have to tell me if anything changes.”

“Of course. Call anytime and I can update you. But we will tell you if there are any problems. I promise, Yami.”

“Good. And you need to know about Henry.”

Owen smiled. “So he is still here. Good.”

“He’s shy and doesn’t want to meet anyone. But he saved Finral’s life last night. He shook the room to wake me, then he made sure I went to the bath. He can’t feel Finral when he has a seizure and he panicked when you knocked him out. Vanessa knows about him too, but Gordon doesn’t. I don’t want to overwhelm him. But someone needs to tell him what’s happening. We owe him that.”

Owen nodded. “Understood.”

“I’m not going until Finral wakes up. I don’t want him thinking I skipped out.”

“He’ll be awake in the morning. We need to get him to eat something if nothing else.”

Yami went to his own room, but could not sleep. He felt tense even though there was no reason to stay awake. He lay in bed and looked at the roof. After what seemed like hours, he wandered through to Finral’s room. Gordon looked up as the small bell rang, but did not say anything. He was reading the large magic encyclopaedia again.

Yami sat on the other side of the futon and let his head lean against the wall. Finral’s quiet breathing and the occasional turns of Gordon’s pages lulled him to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Yami was woken by shafts of sunlight shining between the cracks in the curtain. Finral’s eyes were open and watchful. “Morning?” he said.

“Was that a question?”

“Yeah. I was in the other room. The lights… Wha’ happened?”

“You had another seizure. Owen gave you medication again.”

“I still feel weird. Where’d Owen go?”

“We gave him his own room. He’ll come find you.”

“Wait,” Finral waved his hand. His face creased in concentration. “He’s here. Owen’s here. Why is he here? Am I dying?”

Yami laughed, and even Gordon smiled. “No, idiot. Complicated infirmary politics. He got suspended.”

Finral’s frowned harder. “Does that make no sense because of my brain. Or because it doesn’t make sense?”

“It’s complicated. You can hear all about it, but you need to eat breakfast first.”

He lay back on the bed. “I don’t know if I can manage on my own. Leg’s asleep. And I don’t feel hungry.”

“You have to eat if you’re going to find out what’s been happening.”

“You’re mean, Yami.”

“And, damn, but it’s good to hear you whining. Come on, I’ll give you a hand.”

Yami helped the boy to sit up, then dragged the unresponsive left leg round. He was sweating and breathing hard by the time he balanced on the edge of the bed. “Feel dizzy. All wooly. Can’t walk on my own.”

“I don’t think anyone expects you too. I can carry you again.”

“No. Want to try.”

Gordon was hovering as Finral used Yami to haul himself upright and balanced on the good right leg. He tried a step forward, but the left leg could not support any weight and collapsed underneath him. Yami held him and supported his whole weight. “Yami. Hate this. It wa’ better.”

“Hey, Finral. I know. Don’t panic though. Let’s speak to Owen. He can explain.” He wiped the tears from the boy’s face. 

“Can’t even get this right.”

Yami resisted just lifting him again. “Come on. Gordon will be at your other side. If you want to walk we can help.” 

Finral gave a small determined nod.

By the time they reached the kitchen, Yami and Gordon were doing all the work, but Finral refused the offer to be carried. It seemed to take forever, and the boy looked exhausted by the time they deposited him into one of the kitchen chairs. He listed to the left and panted. He was soaked with sweat. 

Owen must have been behind them. He smiled. “That was very good, Finral.”

“Doesn’ feel good. Feel sick.” He coughed.

“I know. Eat something and that should get better.”

Yami handed him dry bread and water. Gordon rummaged through the cupboards, which was enough to alert Charmy to people in her kitchen. She was still wearing pyjamas, but declared that she was going to make waffles as she pulled baked rolls from the oven.

Owen’s face broke into a grin. Charmy cackled at his delight and began to fill his plate.

Finral looked a little queasy, but Charmy only put down a roll for him. He picked at it, but it was something. He drank the water that she provided.

“Can you tell me what happened?” He asked. He looked more with it than he had for days. ”I think I’m missing time.”

“What do you remember?” asked Owen.

“Umm. Lots of confusing stuff. There were lights in the common room. Everything looked weird. Before that, I had a headache.” He looked at Yami. “You gave me tablets. We were going to tell Owen I threw them up. You said I had to practice staying where you left me. Not much more. Sorry. I think I missed lots.”

“Don’t say sorry, idiot. Not your fault,” Yami said.

“You were having seizures, Finral,” Owen explained. “Lots of little ones, almost continuously by the end. They come from the bit of the brain that was injured. That’s why you were wandering. I’m sorry, because I should have thought of that when I saw you days ago.”

“I don’t remember you being there.”

“I’m not surprised. You wandered off a couple more times and Yami tried to let me know, but there was a problem in the infirmary so I didn’t find out until yesterday morning. By which time the seizures were affecting the whole brain. You were in the bathroom, and Yami had to get you out of the water.”

Finral stared. “I was in the water?”

Yami said. “Yes. Never ever do that again. Understand.”

Owen continued, “It wasn’t your fault, Finral. You had three back-to-back seizures before I got here. The recovery magic could pause them, and then I gave you medication to knock you out so they stay stopped.”

“Will they come back?”

“You’re getting treatment now. It’s why you were seeing the lights yesterday, and why you feel so spaced out. But we have to prevent as many as possible, so we accept the side effects.” He brought out his bag and the little vial of fluid again. “Here’s your next dose.”

“I don't like needles.”

“You had another seizure last night. Just a little one. But I’m going to have to give you a higher dose than the tablets, so that means injections for the next couple of days.”

“Am I going to see things again?”

“It should be better than it was yesterday. Your body’s getting used to it. You’re more awake this morning, for example.”

Finral extended his arm and looked away as Owen slid in the needle. He leaned into Yami and let his eyes close. “You should go get drunk, Yami. You’re really tense.”

“I might go into town for a bit. You gonna be okay if I leave you with Owen and Vanessa?”

“Sure. Are you going to go by broom?”

“My ride got busted, idiot.”

“Hmm.” 

“Come on, let’s get you somewhere more comfortable than this.”

There was no way Finral could walk, so Yami carried him back to the sofa in the common room. He was dozing already. 

“See you in two days Yami,” Owen said.

Yami looked at the sleeping boy again. He was pale. He had lost too much weight. “You’ll call if anything happens.”

“Yes. I promise. If we can’t speak to you, I will get someone from the infirmary to find you.”

“Thanks Owen. For everything.”

Yami grabbed his kit bag and a broom from the door. Vanessa came to wave him off from the front door.

\--

Owen had been right. Yami needed this. But it took a few hours and a number of alcoholic drinks with Jack for the nerves to ease. They planned that once they were good and drunk, they would hit the bars and gamble. 

People that he had never met before kept asking him how Finral was. Two barmen at different bars, numerous waitresses, most of the Grey Deer squad and at least a dozen other magic knights from different teams. They all seemed relieved at his edited report of “Getting better. No, we don’t know when he’s going to be out and about. I’ll tell him you’re asking for him.” The only person he gave the full story to was Julius. 

The Wizard King met them in a shady bar off a side street that would have given Marx a heart attack if he knew such places existed, never mind that they were frequented by his boss. Jack excused himself to bring in the next round.

Yami told Julius the whole story. The frustration of the constant wandering, the fright of finding the kid unconscious in the bath, and his anger at the Recovery mage who had delayed Owen’s arrival. “The kid's worse because of it. He can’t use his leg, the left hand isn’t working, and all because someone stuck our communication disc in the cupboard.”

Julius frowned. “I’m aware of the infirmary situation. It’s not quite done yet. Owen is better off with you for now. Best for Finral and for the infirmary.”

“It’s wrong, Julius. It shouldn’t have happened.”

“I agree. I’m monitoring it, and I will help if I can.” Julius gazed into his beer. If it had been anyone else, Yami would have thought he was gathering his courage. Eventually, he said, “Yami. I wanted to ask you something else. What can you tell me about the sleep magic that Barat used in Ayre?”

It was a good thing Yami was already well on the way to being drunk or the tankard he was holding might have met its end against a wall. “I don’t remember anything about the spell. One minute I was walking down the stairs, the next I’m awake and listening to him trying to kill Finral.”

“Did you dream? Any sense of the passage of time?”

“No. One minute stairs, next minute the cold floor.”

“Were there any residual effects? Drowsiness, that kind of thing?”

“Nothing.” He turned back to face Juilus. He could feel the dark magic tickling his awareness. He would have killed anyone else who had asked this. “Julius. I don’t know why you’re asking. Don’t think I want to know. But you never, ever ask Finral. Understand.”

“I understand. I’m interested in his magic, but he’s a criminal. He hurt more than you and Finral. He took young people to the Diamond Kingdom and sold them. He has done terrible things. And yet, I think it might have been all he ever knew. I traced back his family. When his wife said that there had been a childhood trauma she was not exaggerating.” Julius drained his glass. “It’s more magic lost because we cannot nurture the young.”

“He’s an evil bastard, Julius. You can’t save all the criminals in the country.”

“Agreed. Though, maybe there are some that are worth helping.” There was a glint in his eye that Yami had learned to associate with a Wizard King plan that involved Yami in some way. He had learned to be very wary of that look. 

“Not Barat. I never want to see him again,” Yami said. 

“No. I agree. We may be able to learn something from his magic, but his crimes are too great to allow him his freedom. I was thinking of something… no, someone else. Someone, and maybe his sister, that we might be in time to help. Never mind. That’s for later.”

Despite Yami’s efforts, he would not be drawn out further regarding the criminal he had in mind. Yami was just relieved it was not Barat.

Jack returned with drinks and pies. The conversation drifted back to current events in the city. 

Despite discussing Barat, Yami felt easier after speaking to Julius. Maybe there was something to be said for this talking through stuff. The Wizard King excused himself after his meat pie and Jack and Yami headed to the next bar.

They kept being approached by complete strangers asking about Finral, until Jack asked, “How does he know all these people?”

“I have no idea.” They resolved to ask the next person, who turned out to be a junior magic knight from the Grey Deer. 

“My mother was injured in the landslip on the southward road. Finral helped with the evacuation. She thinks he saved her life.”

Yami remembered the landslip only vaguely. He did not think it had been a Black Bulls mission.

“Oh, no,” the knight said when Yami asked. “He was in the base and we took him. Well, he took us, I suppose. He got us much closer than the spatial mage from the other team. Well, thank you. Can you pass on my regards?”

“Sure,” Yami drank his beer. Once the knight left, he said to Jack. “Little bastard was moonlighting with other squads. I should be charging them.”

But when they realised that their bar tab had been paid by some anonymous benefactor, they considered the bill part paid.

\--

Waking with an epic hangover the next morning, Yami almost felt like himself. He crawled out of bed around lunchtime. 

Owen’s report was still positive. Finral had been awake most of the day yesterday, he had eaten a bit more. There was one partial seizure, but Owen thought that this might be the best balance they could expect for the moment. He had not slept afterwards which was another improvement. The leg and arm were no worse. Yami made plans to return around lunchtime the next day. He hoped about the time his next hangover would be receding.

Jack suggested that they spar, which degenerated into an all out brawl in the Green Mantis training grounds. It was fantastic fun. Yami won. Jack might have argued, but who listened to him.

They got thrown out of two bars that evening, and finished up drinking with William Vangeance and Fuegoleon Vermillion at a posh restaurant that tolerated Yami and Jack because their money was good. The food came in tiny portions, but they had eaten fries at a market vendor earlier so they coped. 

In a quiet moment, Vengeance asked how Finral was. So much for getting a break from the boy. 

Yami gave William a fuller version than he had to the random wellwishers. William frowned at the description of the call to the infirmary. “He did what?”

“He put our communication disc in a cupboard. We couldn’t use it to call for help. Vanessa had to fly to the infirmary in the storm to fetch Owen for us. He thinks that if she hadn’t the kid would be looking at permanent damage. He’s worse than he was, but he’s awake and talking. Which is better than fucking seizures.” Yami took a long swallow of his beer to chase away the memory of the way the boy’s muscles had spasmed under his hand.

Fuegoleon had been listening. He pushed another beer towards Yami. “I have heard there have been changes in the infirmary.”

William nodded. “There is a degree of unhappiness among some of the noble families.”

Now Yami frowned. “Do they know what happened?”

“No. I’ve been aware of undercurrents of dissatisfaction for months, but nothing like this.”

Fuegoleon was serious. “I am going to look into this matter. I had a request for advice on my desk yesterday.”

Jack groaned. “No work chat. We’re here to drink.”

“So, how’s the new recruits?” Yami asked as he gave Jack the finger.

Fuegoleon talked about the Crimson Lion rookies. They sounded like a rowdy bunch.

When he finished, William looked at Yami with a knowing smile. He knew who Yami was asking about. “He’s powerful. His offensive spatial magic is the best I’ve seen. But he’s… young. He doesn’t know how to manage his anger and he can’t get on with anyone else in the squad. He looks furious all the time. He never asks about his brother and never asks to visit. But I wonder if he is worried about him.”

“They’re totally different characters. I can’t get Finral to understand that support magic is a valid use of mana, but he gets on with everyone. Even the pretty girls he messes up flirting with. You know, Julius gave me a handbook for Magic Knight Captains. I’m thinking it never covered half of it.”

Jack laughed and raised his glass at them. “Poor bastards with your squads. Won’t see me as a captain. Too much responsibility.”

This led into a discussion over when the current Captain of the Green Mantises was retiring and who they, being Fuegoleon and Yami, needed to bribe to get Jack promoted to the role. Jack was horrified. “You won’t see me as Captain. No way.”

“Wanna bet, Jack?”

The wager was agreed. After another two rounds Fuegoleon and William escaped back to their quarters and Jack and Yami crashed back at his room, where they drank some, smoked more and reminisced about their wild youth. 

\--

The communicator disc buzzed before breakfast the next morning.

Jack muttered something from the bed. Yami rolled over on the couch to reach the disc on the table. He hit it.

“Yami.” It was Vanessa. Shit.

“What's wrong?” he asked even as he began to look for his clothes.

“Owen says you are not to panic. He said it was the first thing I had to tell you.”

“You’re calling me. After I told Owen to call me if something was wrong. You do the math. What happened?”

She sighed. “Finral’s running a fever. Owen thinks it's his chest from being in the water.”

“Shit, shit.”

“Yami. He’s okay. He’s just a bit miserable. No worse than the time with the throat infection. Owen said I was to call you because he promised. But you don’t have to rush back.”

But Yami was already pulling on his pants and shirt. 

Vanessa smiled at him. “But if you are going to come back, it’d be a good idea. He was looking for you. He’s not quite delirious with the fever, but it knocked him back this morning. Henry got Gordon.”

“Henry did?” He pulled on his shoes.

“Gordon was sitting in with him again, but Finral was sleeping. Gordon only checked him after something happened to the room. He said he thought the walls shivered. By the way, it’s so weird having someone who understands what he says. He’s not as creepy as I thought he was. Anyway, the room shivered and when Gordon checked Finral was running a temperature and shivering too. I spoke to Henry and he said the house knew that something was wrong with him.”

“Okay. I’m on my way. Thanks Vanessa.”

He was about to pull out his broom when Jack opened his eyes. “Leaving?” he murmured. “Why not ask that idiot of Julius’s with the door portals to send you back? Or whoever is on duty at the infirmary. They always have a spatial mage on.”

“Not going to the infirmary. I don’t think I’d be welcome at the moment. And have you ever tried to get Cob to send you somewhere without a hundred questions first? And tea. I might be quicker to fly.”

Jack was already turning on his own disc. “Fair point. But Julius likes you, and I know Cob sent Owen to your digs at the beginning. So let’s ask.”

Cob was delighted to help and even came to meet them at the Green Mantis barracks. It turned out that Cob knew Finral and wanted to know how he was faring. He seemed paternal towards young spatial magic users, and spoke fondly of chatting to Finral. His face did close over when Yami mentioned the new mage in the Golden Dawn. Score one point for the Black Bulls brother.

Jack took one for the team and suggested that Cob join him for tea after Yami left. The pained grimace on Jack’s face made it clear how much he thought Yami owed him for this.

The elaborate portal opened on the lawn at the front of the hideout.

No one was there to greet him. He was not sure if that worried him or not.

Vanessa, Owen and Finral were in the common room. Owen and Vanessa were drinking tea, but Yami only had eyes for the boy. He was huddled in the corner of the sofa with flushed cheeks and a dazed expression. He was tucked into a blanket but he was sitting up on the pile of cushions. He gave Yami a small wave and a smile. 

Yami felt the tension relax in his shoulders. He allowed himself a moment to check Owen and Vanessa. They were calm too. 

“Was that Cob’s portal?” Finral asked.

“Yeah. What is the deal with the doors?”

Finral shrugged. “I asked. He explained, but I think he just likes them? I don’t know why. He’s odd.”

Yami poured himself water to take away the lingering effects of the hangover. “Yeah. I made Jack have tea with him.”

Finral put his hand over his mouth to stifle his giggles. Vanessa was not so diplomatic. “You are a wicked man, Yami Sukehiro. Did you have a good time? Not too much in debt?”

Yami put his feet on the coffee table. “No. Which reminds me. How many people in the Capital do you know, Finral? I spent half my time talking about you. Someone paid my bar tab. And Jack’s.”

Finral gave a sheepish grin. “Who’d you meet?”

“About four thousand members of the Finral Roulacase fan club. Some old woman that you helped with her shopping, at least half of the Grey Deer squad, a dozen waitresses. I tried to remember, but it got boring so I stopped.”

“Yami,” Finral said seriously. “Were any of them pretty?”

“Owen. When can I hit him on the head again?”

“Give it a year.”

“Thanks Owen,” Finral said with a grin.

Yami punched his right arm instead. The left was clumsy when it came up to rub it, but Finral did not seem to notice. He pouted. “I bet they were all pretty. All this missed opportunity for sympathy. Maybe next time I can come with you?”

“Sounds good, kid. I thought the old woman with the shopping was your type.” 

His red cheeks flushed even more. “She was a really nice lady. She looks after her three grandchildren…” He might have tried to explain more, but he coughed from deep in his chest and winced. 

“Stop talking, idiot.”

He nodded once the coughing fit settled. “No talking. Yeah,” he whispered and leaned back into the cushions. 

Vanessa took over the conversation. She asked about Jack, and then wanted to know everything about Fuegoleon, William and the Wizard King. “Julius says the infirmary thing was still working itself out.”

“I think it’s what Rednicht thought would happen,” said Owen. “She calls me every morning, and she sounds angrier, but happier every time. I think there are a lot of old grievances being aired. She’s meeting resistance from the old guard. There’s still a faction that believes that healing should only be for those who can afford to pay, and that only Recovery Mages from established families should be trained. It’s a dying opinion and she’s putting the nails in its coffin. But there is still power and money in it.”

“Julius said he would help if he could.”

“I’m sure she’s already discussed it with him.” Owen glanced at Finral. The boy was dozing again. “She might have to send someone here. Probably someone from that group and an independent observer. I’m going to try to put them off for a few days.”

Yami nodded. “So, what happened while I was gone?”

“Did Vanessa explain? I think Henry sensed that he was feverish and alerted Gordon. He’s been running a low grade fever through most of the day, but he’s been far more with it. The anti-seizure meds are at a steady dose, so he’s taken them as tablets today.”

“So why do you look so worried Owen?” Yami asked. Because the Recovery Mage looked more serious than any time since he had arrived. His ki was calm, but there was an undercurrent of anxiety in it.

Vanessa looked up. She had not noticed.

“I forget you and the damn ki reading,” Owen said. “Okay. I can’t use the recovery spell on this pneumonia. The spell detects the seizure medication in his bloodstream and tries to remove it as though it’s a poison. I’m treating the infection with more drugs, but I can’t give him the usual things for the fever or the pain because they interfere with the seizure stuff too. So he’s going to have to ride it out. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. He had a major lung trauma from the original injury, then a near drowning on the back of serious physiological stress from the seizures. Then I had to knock him out, and sedate him so I put the lungs under more strain. It’s a lot for the body to cope with.”

“You expected this to happen.” Yami realised. “That’s why you sent me away? Because you knew this was coming next.”

Owen nodded. “I guessed. I hoped we would be able to get the meds sorted before the chest started to cause a problem. We’ve done well putting it off as long as we have. But yes, I wanted you to get a break, because the next few days might be tough going. If he’s running a fever, he’s going to want people he knows nearby. He was looking for you this morning before he remembered you were in the city.”

Yami looked at the dozing boy again. He was wheezing again. Not as bad as it had been when he had come out of the water, but it was audible now that no one else was talking. “Is he in danger?”

“I don’t think so. He's more at risk from the seizures. They are likely to be worse while the body deals with the infection."

“Damn, Owen. I thought we were beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel here.”

“We are. You think about the conversation you just had, then remember when you came here first. Or even a few days ago. This is just another bump.”

“We’ve still got the leg and arm to deal with too. That’s going to be even longer before he can work on them.”

“Yes. It can’t be helped. There are little things we can do. Getting him to walk as much as he can, even if he’s hardly using the left side is important. Making sure he eats and drinks and sleeps. There are passive stretches and things he can be working on when he’s awake enough.”

“Owen, I’m glad you're here.”

“Me too.”

Charmy brought them lunch. They woke Finral, who managed a little of the soup before waving it away and staring out the window at the birds as the others ate. Owen kept pressing him to drink, so in the end he had a cup and with a straw in his hand so he could take a swallow every time that Owen or Vanessa prodded his arm.

They spent a pleasant afternoon, as calm as the Black Bulls ever got. Vanessa challenged Owen to the board games they found in a cupboard. The previous residents of the hideout seemed to have thrown out all the instructions, so they relied on Finral’s adjudication over points of gameplay. Finral stayed mostly awake and behaved as though he had had a couple of Vanessa sized measures of wine. Yami was called in when Finral’s consistency was questioned, when he forgot what a dice was called, and on the two occasions when he talked himself into a coughing fit. 

Vanessa reigned supreme in every number and chance game they found. Owen beat her in the game with little letter tiles with some obscure medical words that Finral declared were ‘definitely real, because who is going to argue with the man with the needles, Vanessa.’

By evening Charmy and Gordon joined them again for food. Owen’s eyes lit up at a Charmy special with four courses and enough food for twelve of them. Or six plus Charmy. Finral nibbled some bread, but managed a whole portion of the sticky sweet dessert. Charmy’s eyes lit up seeing him eat something and Yami expected to see many more puddings on their menu.

The boy was flagging by the time everyone else finished eating. He was quiet and shivering despite the blazing fire. The wheeze had become louder and he coughed even when he was not trying to speak. Owen kept prodding him, and he scowled whenever he took a drink. Yami had opened a beer when Finral said to Owen, “Can I take anything for the headache now?”

“Sorry, Finral. Still the same problem as yesterday.”

“Thought so. It was worth a shot. Does anyone mind if I go to bed?”

“You want a hand?” Yami asked.

“Gonna try and walk. You can come if you want.”

Yami offered him a hand to stand and the boy used it to pull himself upright onto the working right leg. Even this effort made the wheezing worse. He leaned into Yami’s help, and stumbled to the corridor. 

“If you die before you ask me to carry you, I’m leaving you here, Finral.”

Finral gave a thumbs up. 

They made two stops to let Finral catch his breath, but by the time they reached the stairs Yami was almost carrying him anyway. He was shaking like a leaf and looked at the stairs as if they were a mountain. He did not have enough breath to speak, but shook his head. Yami scooped him off the ground. He was burning up as he sank into the hold and just breathed.

Gordon had left out pyjamas on the bed. A small toilet had moved next to Finral’s room so they did not have to go far when Finral mentioned that Owen had made him drink a gallon of water this afternoon and he needed to pee. Yami did not even ask if he needed to be carried before he lifted him up.

“Fed up of this,” Finral said as Yami deposited him beside the toilet. “Miss portals.”

“Me too. You promised you’d take me to the toilet whenever I ask when you’re better.”

“Yeah. Remember.”

When Finral had finished up, Yami took him back. His eyes were closed and his face creased with pain when he lay on the bed. “Than’s Yami,” he whispered. He coughed again and shuddered. “Thin’ never gonna get’ better.”

“Owen says it’s getting better.”

“Fel’ better in mornin’. Worse now. Head hur’s”

A quiet knock at the door was followed by Owen’s entrance. Finral did not open his eyes.

“Tablets. Before you sleep,” he said.

“Sure,” Finral whispered. He cracked his eye open and took the four tablets that Owen gave him. His hand was shaking. He gagged the first time he tried to swallow them, so Yami pulled him upright so that he was leaning against him. He managed the tablets with a little water then closed his eyes again. Owen pulled up extra pillows and had Yami put the boy back so that he was sitting up against them. He put a cool cloth across his forehead and the boy shivered against it. 

“Go to sleep Finral.”

“Yes sir.” It took a long time for the pain to ease off his face.

Yami sat on the spare futon and listened to his chest wheeze. 

Gordon came a couple of hours later when Yami was dozing as he sat. Gordon had left his encyclopaedia and now brought a basket with fabric offcuts and needles and thread. He set up a small sewing station under the single lantern. He told Yami something, but without Owen to translate, Yami had no idea what it was. He nodded and said goodnight. Finral did not move. 

Owen and Vanessa were sharing a bottle of wine downstairs. Vanessa poured him the final glass from the bottle. 

“Let’s go visit Henry,” Vanessa declared when she finished her glass.

They left Gordon a note in case he came looking for them, then took the wine to Henry’s room. 

The young man looked terrified to see them all, but Yami reassured him that they would sit in the corridor. Vanessa poured him wine from a new bottle and pushed it across the floor with a broom.

Yami, Owen and Vanessa sat in the hall outside Henry’s room and chatted together. Henry did not contribute much, but his fear eased. He laughed when Owen described the day he tried to treat a large feline that had been caught in the crossfire of a fire attack in the Capital. His slow, sonorous laugh sent Vanessa into a fit of giggles. Even when the conversation moved on, she continued to giggle into her wine glass. 

Yami was getting an ache in his back from the corridor floor, so he levered himself up to say goodnight. The mana drain was manageable, but he felt more tired than the time would suggest. Owen joined him, but Vanessa wanted to stay. They found her a blanket and pillow from a nearby room and she made herself comfortable. Henry looked both shocked and delighted by her spontaneous sleepover. 

Yami and Owen left them with refilled glasses and a promise to come collect Vanessa in the morning.

The two men checked on Gordon and Finral before they retired. Gordon was sewing what looked like a tiny Black Bull cloak. Finral was flushed and wheezy, but sleeping with a refreshed cool cloth. Gordon muttered something, and Owen replied, “Good. We’ll see how things are in the morning.”

As Yami closed the door again, he asked Owen, “So, you can hear what Gordon says?”

Owen looked surprised, “You can’t?”


	6. Chapter 6

Yami slept better than he expected. The sense that he was waiting for something to happen had not quite left him, but he must have had enough to drink to compensate. He woke at daybreak without any alarms from Henry or Gordon.

He went out to train in the early morning rain. It felt good to run through the forms and exercises until he was soaked with rain and sweat. 

Gordon was fretting to Owen when Yami returned to the common room. Owen was saying, “It’s okay if he wants to stay in bed, Gordon. It’s probably a good idea for the next couple of days. It’d be best if he slept as much as he could.”

Gordon replied.

“I understand, but he doesn’t mean it. He’s in pain and unwell. You know he wouldn’t want to hurt you. You mustn’t take it to heart.”

Gordon said something else, and Owen patted him on his shoulder. “Good. Someone will sit with him today, but you need to sleep. If I’m worried, I will come to tell you.”

Gordon let himself be shooed to his room. 

“Who’s with Finral?” Yami demanded. If Owen was here, Vanessa was still with Henry and Gordon was going to bed, who was left? It was going to be the wanderings all over again. Finral could be anywhere by now.

“Charmy. She was going to bring breakfast, so I sent her to sit with him while I spoke to Gordon.”

“Charmy, Owen. She’s the most unreliable of us all. If something tasty comes along she’ll be gone.”

Yami hurried to Finral’s room. Owen followed at a slower pace, as though he did not believe the dire prediction.

And it just showed that you could work with people in a squad and not know them at all. Charmy was sitting on Finral’s bed with a couple of sheep, running her hands through the boy’s damp hair and singing him an old children’s song. Finral looked more relaxed than he had last night. He was still wheezy and continued to cough but he was drowsy as he leaned into the warmth of the sheep. 

“He needs to take his tablets,” Owen said.

She nodded. “Finral, Finral,” she said in a singsong voice. “Time to wake up for a minute. Owen wants you to take your tablets.”

He opened his eyes and squinted against the light. “Don’t want to Owen,” he muttered. “Feel sick.”

Charmy ran her hands through his hair again and murmured something. He pulled back and would have pushed her hand away too if he had been using the working right hand and not the left. “No. I said no. Leave me alone.”

He pulled away from the sheep too and hid his face under his arm. He began to cough, but he pushed Charmy’s hand away too as it came out to offer comfort. The coughing seemed to go on for an age until he caught his breath again. When he did he had tears in his eyes. “Leave me alone.”

“Sorry, Finral. It’s not a choice. You have to take them. It’s either tablets or the injection.”

“Don’t wanna.”

Owen glanced at Yami and nodded.

With this implicit permission, Yami said in his giving orders voice, “Take the damn pills Finral.”

The boy cringed and trembled, and Yami might have felt sorry if he had not then taken the proffered tablets from Owen. He gagged on them and the water that he used to swallow them. 

Charmy climbed off the bed. She left one sheep curled on Finral’s feet. “I’m going to make breakfast. I will be back.” And she bounced off.

Finral watched her go. 

“Yami and I are going to sit over here for a bit,” said Owen. “Let’s make sure those tablets stay down.”

They didn’t. Twenty minutes later he had vomited them up. He lay back exhausted. “I knew that was going to happen.” He retched again, then whispered. “You’re going to give me an injection again, aren’t you?”

“You can’t do without it yet. Sorry Finral. My things are downstairs. I’ll be back in a minute.”

When the door had closed behind him, Finral whined, “I don’t want a needle. It hurts.”

“Yeah. You’re gonna have to suck it up. Owen says you need it, that’s what happens.”

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

“My head hurts and my…” He trailed off and stared past Yami. His left leg was trembling again. Another partial seizure.

“Hey, Finral. Kid.”

There was no answer. His left hand was gripping and tightening against the blanket so Yami took it in his. 

“Don’t know if I’m supposed to say stuff when you’re like this, but, well. Yeah. You should stay here and not get out of bed.”

It lasted another half a minute before the boy took a deep gasp of air and blinked at Yami. “There you are,” Yami said to him.

“I… I was saying something. What was I saying?” 

He looked ready to panic so Yami patted him on the shoulder. “You were whining. Stop worrying about it.”

“I was not. I was… I don’t remember.” 

“Finral it’s fine. Slow down your breathing before…”

It was too late. The boy dissolved into a fit of coughing. Yami helped him sit up, but by the time it eased he was drenched in sweat and shaking.

“I blanked out again,” he whispered when he could speak again. “Need to know how long.”

“A minute. No more. It was fine.”

“It’s not fine. I hate this. I hate it.” Tears of frustration were running down his face. “I don’t hate you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry”

“Shit, Finral. I know what it is you hate. Stop apologising. Come here.” He gathered the sobbing, wheezy teenager into a hug. He was still too hot.

The door opened but Finral did not move. Yami caught Owen’s eye. The Recovery Mage mouthed, “Another one? How long?”

Yami held up one finger. 

“Finral,” Owen said. “I’m going to give you an injection. You don’t have to do anything.”

He took the boy’s unresisting arm and did the injection into the vein. Finral kept his face hidden against Yami. He flinched at the needle but did not pull away. Yami patted his back and said, “Good job kid.”

“I hate this. Head hurts. Chest hurts.” the boy murmured into Yami. He sounded exhausted. “Want to stay awake the whole day.”

“Shh. Go back to sleep if you need to, idiot.”

Finral relaxed and leaned into Yami’s arms. His breathing did not change but Yami sensed he was asleep again. 

“Can you take him for a moment?” Owen asked. “I want to change this bed.”

Yami lifted the boy. His breathing was easier if he was upright, so Yami sat on the futon and supported him against his chest as Owen worked. Yami could feel the wheeze, but also deep crackles with every breath. 

Vanessa poked her head around the door as Owen finished. She was a little pale, but no worse than she looked with a usual hangover. “Henry said he was ‘not here’ again. Did he have another seizure?”

“Just a little one. And not for long.”

“He looks fucking awful, Owen,” she said. “And he sounds worse.”

Owen nodded. “I know.” He rubbed his eyes. “The recovery spell is itching at me.”

“You don’t think it would help.”

“It would help his breathing, but he’d be back to seizures worse than before. And I can’t knock him out like I did then either. We’ve tried it with other patients. There isn’t any way to have both. He is getting treatment for his chest. We’ve got to give it time to work.”

He brought a stethoscope out and listened to Finral’s chest as he slept. Owen frowned. “But you’re right Vanessa. He does sound awful. Keep him upright even if he’s asleep. There’s some positioning things that might help, and some old fashioned physical therapy. There’s a nurse at the infirmary who used to know about this stuff. I’m going to have a chat. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Yami put Finral back onto the bed on the pile of pillows that were ready for him. He wriggled against them and whimpered in his sleep until Yami lifted him back up and positioned them the way they had been sitting on the futon. Charmy’s sheep climbed back onto the bed and settled itself on Finral’s legs. Vanessa brought the cool cloth from last night and put it back on the boy’s head, and another on his neck. Eventually, he settled back into wheezy sleep. 

Vanessa went to tell Henry what had happened, then came straight back. “He says he feels all wrong again,” she said as she wiped the sweat soaked hair out of Finral’s eyes. “He’s trying to control it, but the mana drain is getting uncomfortable. I don’t think he’s ever had friends before and he feels like he’s losing him.” She swallowed. “I feel like I’m losing him too. I know that Owen says the seizures are more dangerous, but this doesn’t feel any better.”

“I know, Vanessa. I trust Owen though. He says this is the only way, then it’s the only way.”

“I trust him too, Yami. But it doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She stood at the window and looked out onto the forest. 

Yami was struck by the distance she was still keeping from Finral. He was the one sitting with the boy on his lap, Gordon had launched himself into the nursing role with abandon and even Charmy had taken her turn at comforting the boy. Vanessa was the one providing practical support, fetching supplies, risking storms to reach Owen and keeping Henry informed. But she was still reluctant to provide the kind of physical comfort the boy was needing. Finral had noticed it the morning that he ended up in the kitchen.

They were usually in each other’s pocket. Finral’s tendency to chase pretty girls had morphed into friendship and respect with Vanessa within two hours of their meeting. Yami had called Vanessa ‘Finral’s best friend’. She had said that she had to step up when Yami left. So why did she hold herself at arm’s length when he was needing the physical closeness even more.

“Want to swap?” Yami asked. 

She took a step back, but Yami was already lifting the boy up and moving to let her take his place. “I can’t,” she hissed.

“Nonsense, witch. I’m getting stiff and I’m covered in his sweat. It’s disgusting. Come on.” 

She was hesitant to come nearer. More hesitant than Yami thought he had ever seen her. “Sit there,” Yami said. 

She had no real choice but to do as she was told. Yami could not keep Finral balanced on his arms for long. When Vanessa was in position, he eased the sleeping teenager into position. She stiffened, but Finral was too out of it to notice. He sank into her hold and slowly she relaxed. Yami took the dry cloth and dampened it again. When he returned she was only a little less tense. She raised her hand and patted Finral’s arm. 

The boy’s eyes cracked open a little. He wriggled against her shirt. “‘nessa?” he mumbled.

“Hi Finral.” 

He gave a small smile and said, “Though’ you gone.”

“I’m not going anywhere, silly.”

“Good.” His eyes closed again. “I’d miss you.”

“Don’t you go anywhere either,” she whispered. “I’d miss you too.”

Owen returned with a sheaf of paper and instructions. Yami looked at them. Owen explained. “One of the nurses in the infirmary used to live in a village in the forsaken realm. They never had access to Recovery Mages, so she had a whole list of things they used to do for infections in the chest that we never use. Some of it seems rather barbaric. But she says that it clears the secretions and helps the breathing.”

“Can I help?” Vanessa asked. 

Owen looked at her with a surprised grin. “Of course. It would be better if he was awake.”

While she woke the boy again, Yami took his leave to get washed and bring food. 

It only took half an hour for him to return, by which time Owen was finishing up. Finral looked more exhausted than he had before, but his breathing was easier. Vanessa was pale and grim. “What did you do?” Yami asked.

“Ow’n bossy,” Finral slurred. “He hi’ me.” His eyes were closing. He was still wheezing, but the coarse crackling noise sounded easier.

Owen said, “Yeah. I’m sorry, Finral. Vanessa.”

“‘s okay. Sorr’. Sleepy.”

“Go to sleep then, idiot,” Yami said.

His eyes were already closed. 

“You can help Owen do that next time,” Vanessa said. She downed a glass of water from the table then glared at it for the lack of alcohol content.

“That was the gentle version,” said Owen. “Still got to be careful of those ribs.”

“Gentle. Damn. I’m going for a drink.” 

Little steps, Yami thought. He was going to be patient with her.

“She’s not wrong though,” Owen said into the mug of tea that Yami poured for him. “We should never have to do that kind of thing if there’s a recovery spell we can do instead.” 

“What are you thinking about?” 

“The nurse I talked to knew about this because she treated people in her village with these infections. If they asked for a Recovery Mage, they wouldn’t come if someone couldn’t pay. So they had to learn other ways to keep their patients alive. It’s wrong Yami. This would take half an hour to fix with a proper recovery spell. Instead, we leave people to suffer because they didn’t have the yul.”

“Is this what your boss is working on?”

He nodded and wiped his eyes. “Yes. It’s why it’s so important.”

“We can help.”

“Sad as it sounds, Yami, this has helped. It was probably the only thing that might have made enough of an impact.”

“But we could have paid? We’re magic knights. There are funds for these kinds of things.”

“It’s not about the money. It’s the prestige too. If you had called from the Crimson Lions or the Silver Eagles, you would have been put through to speak to me. I wasn’t busy. You might even have got the triage mage to visit without speaking to me at all. But this is the Black Bulls.”

“You’re making me angry about it again.”

“You should be angry. If someone had seen him when you called, he would not have pneumonia. It is that simple. The nurse says that the infirmary is in uproar. The Wizard King has been called in to review the case against the Recovery Mage you spoke to. He claims that you did not say anything was different and you never asked for me to be told.”

Yami spluttered. “Owen…”

“I know. I know what you said. So does my boss. Julius can use his time spell to prove it. But they will want to speak to you, and see Finral.”

“He’s not in any fit state for visitors.” 

“No. He is not. But they are going to say that delaying the message never made a difference to what happened. Rednicht needs to prove that it caused him harm before she has a case that sticks.”

Yami drank his tea.

“I’m going to ask them to come the day after tomorrow, if that is okay with you. They’ll want to speak to you and Vanessa. And I’ll let them see Finral, but that’s all.”

“No one gets near him without you, me or Vanessa with them.”

“Agreed.”

“I trust you Owen. If it’s what we need to do, then we’ll do it.”

Finral was no better after lunch. When he woke he coughed and his expression was creased with pain from the headaches. Owen kept up his regular reminders to drink and the boy tried his best even though someone else had to hold the mug because his hand shook so much.

Vanessa returned and alternated with Yami to prop Finral up on the bed because it seemed to help the breathing. He shivered despite the heat radiating from his body. Owen ran through the physical therapy routine twice and each time the breathing eased, but the boy was more exhausted each time so that he struggled to follow the instructions. He coughed and wheezed even as he slept. 

He had two partial seizures. They both lasted less than a minute but he was frightened when he came out of them and only settled if Vanessa and Yami were in sight. He flinched every time Owen gave him another injection, but did not object. 

When he fell asleep it felt like a relief.

Yami went to his own room and slept.

\--

Gordon woke him in the middle of the night. There was no point asking what was wrong, so Yami threw on a robe and followed.

Owen was with Finral. The boy was lying on the bed drenched in sweat and whimpering as far away from Owen as he could reach. There were tears in his eyes and he was shaking. 

“A seizure?” Yami asked.

“No. It’s the fever. He’s delirious and frightened and we’re struggling to keep him calm. We thought you might have better success.” 

As Yami approached, he realised that mixed with the whimpering and small noises of distress were recognisable words. “It’s ice magic. Ice. Put me down.”

Yami took a step back and felt his chest constrict. “Shit. Owen. He’s back in… in Ayre. That’s what we had to… What he had to...” 

Owen glanced at him. Yami wondered if he looked as unsteady as he felt. This was…. Shit. This was messed up. He wanted to get out of the room. He needed to get out. Away and…

“Yami,” Owen snapped. “Tell him he’s safe. Now.”

Yami shook himself. “Damn.” He took a step forward again. Surpass those limits. “Finral. Finral. Kid. We aren’t there. It’s okay.”

“Can’t. Sorry. Sorry. Can’t make portal. Yami. Sorry.”

“Shh. Finral. It’s okay. It’s done.”

“Don’ wan’ it round my wrists, Yami. Don’t. Sorry. Sorry.”

The rope around his wrists, Yami realised. He was talking about the rope. Yami pulled him into a hug and the boy trembled against him. “Shit, shit, Finral. Stop saying sorry. I’m… fuck…. I’m sorry. It was all my fault. I shouldn’t have made you do that. I shouldn’t have taken you there. I didn’t keep you safe. Sorry, kid.”

“I…”

Yami felt the boy’s muscles tighten and his head jerk against his chest. There was the small grunting breaths that indicated one of the large seizures. Spasms ran through his whole body and his features contorted into the pained rictus. Yami lay him down on his side to keep the airway clear and let the spit and blood drain from his lips. Owen already had the injection in his hand and Yami held the boy’s arm still. It took Owen two goes to find the vein. The skin of the arm was bruised and inflamed. 

The convulsion lasted less than a minute before he slipped back to sleep. But Owen still looked concerned. 

“Talk, Owen,” Yami demanded.

“The fever’s driving the seizures. I’ve given him the biggest dose I can, but it’s going to take a while for it to take effect. If he has any more before then, I might have to use the recovery spell to bring the fever down. And then we’re really going to be in trouble.”

Shit, Yami thought to himself. If Owen thought that was going to be worse than this, he did not want to know.

Finral was restless as he slept, but there was no sign of him waking. Owen looked like he was beginning to relax when Finral said, quite clearly, “Langris, don’t.”

His eyes were closed, but lids were flickering as if he was in the midst of a dream. 

“Finral,” Yami said. “What is it?”

“It was me. It wasn’t Langris. I’m sorry, I’m…” he flinched.

Owen whispered, “Can you keep him calm? I don’t know if the distress triggers the seizures or not, but the more settled he is the better.”

“I don’t know what he’s talking about.” Yami said, although he could guess. The boy did not use his family name, he startled at loud noises and had zero self worth despite magic that was fast, accurate and useful. Julius hinted that he had been prevented from joining any other Magic Knight squad by his father’s money. And that was without getting started on how poorly adjusted Langris seemed to be. 

“It doesn’t matter. He trusts you.”

He took the too warm hand in his, and said, “Finral. It’s okay.”

“Langris didn’t. It was me. It was me.”

“Okay. I believe you.” Yami ran a hand through the boy’s hair the way he had done back in the snow in the forest. 

“Don’t hurt him. Don’t hurt Langris. Please. Father. Please. It was me. I broke it.” Tears rolled down his face.

Yami glanced at Owen, but Owen waved him on. “Langris is okay, Finral. I won’t let anyone hurt him.”

Finral opened his eyes wide and stared at Yami. “Yami,” He grabbed at his hand. “Don’t let father hurt him. It was me. I broke it.”

“Shhh. I won’t let your father hurt Langris. I won’t let him hurt you either.”

The boy’s eyes fluttered closed again and he took a wheezy breath. “Than’s Yami. Don’t let hi’ hur’ Langris.”

“No. I won’t. I promise. Go back to sleep.”

He relaxed again. Yami sat back on his haunches. 

The boy roused twice more as the sky began to lighten towards dawn. The first time he talked of Ayre again, but the second time the words were so muddled it was not clear where his brain had taken him. He responded to Yami’s reassurance each time and settled back into restless sleep.

The sun was just above the horizon when Vanessa poked her head around the door. Finral startled at the noise and began to mutter, “Sorry, sorry father. I won’t. I can’t.”

Vanessa was very pale when Yami had calmed the boy again. “You could come help.” Yami said.

She did not speak for a moment, then said, “I… Do you know the walls are vibrating? It woke me up.” She was staring at Finral but did not come any further into the room. 

Yami had not noticed the vibration, but now that Vanessa had mentioned it the fine tremor was clear. “Henry?”

“I’m going to find him. What do I tell him?” She still did not look at Yami.

Owen replied. “It's the fever he can feel. We’re waiting for the treatment for the pneumonia to start working. It’s making him confused, but it’s not getting any worse.”

Vanessa was about to close the door, when Yami said, “Vanessa.” She looked at him for the first time. “If the mana drain is not too bad, get him to come and see him. He might be less inclined to freak out if he can see what he looks like.”

She gave a cold laugh. “Seeing Finral isn’t going to stop him freaking out, Yami. He looks terrible. But I’ll ask.” She closed the door behind her.

Oh, shit. They were falling apart, Yami thought. How much more of this could they handle?

“‘Nessa?” Finral murmured. “They’re gonna get ‘er.”

“It’s okay, kid. There’s no one here.”

“Watch out. Yami. He’s got a knife.”

“Shh. He’s not here.”

“Yami. He’s going to hurt you. Going to hurt Vanessa. Got to get it away.”

Damn, but Yami knew where Finral’s head was now. “You did it, Finral. You got us away. It’s okay.”

“Need to be fast enough. Don’t know if I can.”

“You did it. You did a good job.”

“I did? He’s going to hurt you.”

“Shh. Finral it’s done. You kept us safe. We’re at the hideout. Owen’s here. Vanessa is okay.”

He sighed. For a moment his eyes were clearer and looked at Yami. “Yami? I don’t understand. Why can’t I breathe.”

“You’ve got pneumonia. You’re running a fever. Owen’s here. Can you drink something? It’d make him happy.”

“You won’t hurt me. You won’t let him hurt me.” 

“I won’t. Come on and drink.”

He took a couple of mouthfuls, then turned his head away and closed his eyes. “Feel sick.”

“You did good. You can sleep for a bit.”

“Don’t wanna…” But his eyes were still closed and he relaxed again onto the bed. “He’s got a knife.”

“Shh. You did it. You kept us safe.”

The boy’s breathing settled back into sleep.

“It was a knife fight in Kiten,” Yami explained for Owen. “First time I saw him use his magic for defence. Someone was coming up to my blind spot with a knife. Finral sent him through a portal so he was right in front of me. He saved my life.” He watched the boy for a moment to be sure he was sleeping again. 

Owen drew up the next injection and said, “I’m going to add in something else to try to treat the infection. It shouldn’t interact with the other treatments, but it has to be done more often. And it tends to sting if it’s given intravenously.”

Despite Owen’s warning, Finral slept through the injection.

Charmy brought them food. Her sheep cooks carried coffee and fruit. Finral did not stir. 

The new drug might have been taking effect or the boy was exhausted, but he continued to sleep even as Owen and Yami chatted up to lunchtime. The wheeze did not improve, and the coarse crackles were audible in the chest, but Owen explained the boy needed to be more aware than he had been to do the physical therapy exercises.

There was a very soft knock at the door, then the sound of hushed whispers and someone moving behind it. It opened a little and Vanessa’s head poked around it. “Henry’s here. He’d like to see Finral. He won’t come too close, but he thinks he can keep the mana drain under control for a little while.”

She moved back into the corridor and Henry crept forward. The drain was noticeable, but Yami’s greatest worry was the effect it might have on Finral. The boy did not react.

“Hi Henry,” Owen said.

“Doctor… Owen… I… met… you…”

“Yes. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you before.”

“The… Black Bulls…” He stopped, then started again. “My… Squad… helped. You… help… Fin...ral.”

“Yes. I’m trying to.”

Henry watched the boy from the doorway, then put his hand on the wall as if he was sensing something from the house too. “I can.. feel... him now. He... feels… He is... more... here.”

Yami glanced at Finral. The boy's eyes had opened and he was watching Henry. He was more aware than he had been earlier. “Hello,” he said. “I know you. You’re the house.” It was not a question. 

“Yes.... He… llo.”

“Nice to meet you,” He gave a small wave. “Sorry. Sleepy.” He closed his eyes again. 

“Thank… you…” Henry said. “The house… says… he feels… better....”

Owen put a hand on the sleeping teenager’s forehead and nodded. “The fever is down a little bit.”

Henry gave a beaming smile. “I… like… you… all…” he said, then walked away. 

Vanessa poked her head back around the door. Yami said, “Good job. Thanks Vanessa.”

She nodded.

Owen decided to use the current lucidity to do the physical therapy again. He woke Finral and ran through the position changes, gentle vibration and taping on his chest. The boy had to try to do deep breaths, but was hampered by the drowsiness. Yami helped him move when the exhaustion was too much and when the coughing overwhelmed him. By the end, Yami was sweating and Finral was so deeply asleep that he never noticed Owen arranging him onto his front and leaning against the pillow. Again the crackling was better, even if the wheeze was still present.

“He doesn’t feel so hot,” Yami said.

“No. It’s hopeful. It could deteriorate again, but perhaps the new treatment is working.”

“At last. Nice to get some good news Owen.” 

“Yeah. I know.”

They went back to their game of checkers. 

By the time Owen did the next injection, even the breathing sounded a little easier. Finral woke and drank more water than he had for a couple of days. Yami took him to the toilet again and made sure to remind him of their deal. Finral nodded. He was exhausted by the time they finished and was dozing again before Yami put him back in the bed.

Vanessa joined them. She looked like she may have had a couple of glasses of wine to bolster her courage, but she still beat the winner at checkers, then went to bring new games from the cupboard. 

Finral opened his eyes again at the closing door's noise. 

“Checkers?” he said to Owen.

“You want a game?”

“Hmm.”

Yami set the board up next to the bed. Finral could not keep his eyes open to play most of his moves, so Yami sabotaged his turn for him. Finral caught him once and said, “You’re cheating.”

“You keep falling asleep.”

“S’ppose.” But he moved his next piece on his own.

By the time Owen had beaten him soundly, he was asleep again.

Yami grinned. Despite the inability to stay awake for five minutes, it felt almost like the real Finral. 

Vanessa and Owen went back to the game with the little letter tiles while Finral slept. Yami declined to play with them. Not my language, he said in his defence. Owen beat Vanessa again. By evening Finral’s fever was a little higher, but nothing like the heights it had reached earlier. He was drowsy but coherent and managed a bit of Charmy’s soup with a scowl. He muttered that he was never having soup again, which was such ordinary Finral-whining that Yami grinned at him. He even held his arm out for Owen to give him an injection.

“When can I get back to… Ow… to the tablets. That stuff stings. Of course the tablets taste disgusting.”

“You’re on three different medications and much higher doses at the moment. This way I know how much you’re getting. Once the fever goes down for twenty four hours, you can go back to the tablets again. But injections tomorrow.”

The boy’s eyes had glazed over, so Yami was not sure how much of that, if anything had been understood. 

Owen chased everyone out the room while he helped Finral get changed. “I’ve been in bed all day Ow’n. Can I ge’ up?”

“Get changed first then see you you feel,” Owen said as the door closed. 

In the common room, Yami took out a beer and Vanessa opened a new bottle of wine. Gordon and Charmy joined them. They drank and talked until Owen opened the door with Finral leaning into his support. The boy was wheezy and breathless, his colour was a little better. He gave a tired smile.

Owen helped him wobble into a seat and he curled up to listen to the others as they chatted. He took his mug and straw and some flavoured juice that Vanessa had purchased for him. No alcohol while on meds, Owen said. He dozed off after half an hour, during one of Owen’s stories about the Wizard King when he was younger. But he looked comfortable propped up on one of Charmy’s sheep cooks so they let him sleep until Yami declared he was going out for a cigarette. 

“Do you think you could take Finral to bed when you come back?” Owen asked. 

“Sure.”

When he returned, Gordon was being given the night shift instructions. Owen was going to sleep in the room next door. If Finral had a seizure, Gordon was to knock for Owen straight away. If he woke up distressed and Gordon couldn’t calm him down within a couple of minutes he was to call Owen. If his breathing became wheezier, or his fever increased, call Owen. Gordon nodded and said something.

“Yes. I think he’ll be okay. There’s no reason to think that the improvement won’t continue overnight. But I’m quite happy to be woken at any time Gordon. Even if it turns out to be nothing.”

For the first time in ages, picking the boy up was enough to rouse him. “Yami? Bedtime?”

“Yeah. The Sheep cook wants its seat back and you're drooling on it.”

“Wha’, I’m… What are you saying?” He looked around the room in worry.

“I’m messing, idiot. You’re fine. You need to go to bed though.”

“Yeah. Suppose.” He let his eyes close again and he squirmed into Yami’s warmth as they went up the stairs. “You’re cosy.”

“Not as cosy as you. You’re like a little furnace.”

“I feel cold.”

“That’s the fever. But you seem better.”

“Yeah. Feel better. Still fuzzy. Would like to stay awake for more than five minutes.”

“At least you’re making sense tonight. This morning you were all over the place.”

“Dreaming. I was… remembering stuff.”

“I know.” Yami put him on the bed and pulled the covers over. Finral shivered against the cool sheets. “Gordon’s going to keep you company again.”

“He doesn’t need to do that. I’m going to sleep. It’s creepy when he watches me.”

“He likes you. You said you liked him too.”

“I do. It’s just… Everyone’s following me around again.”

“Kid. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to hear you complain about that again. When Owen says, you can have your own room to yourself. It’s him you got to convince.”

“Why is he here? Shouldn’t he be at the infirmary? I only really thought about it.”

“I don’t think you’ve been capable of making complex thoughts for a few days. Right. I’ll explain what’s been happening and you can tell me if I'm repeating stuff you remember me saying before. I'll stop if you fall asleep. What’s the last thing you remember clearly?”

Finral tried to smother the yawn and failed. “There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense. I remember I told you I wanted my own room. And you agreed.”

“Well, a few things have happened since then. You were having seizures and wandering the building, so we kept losing you. We called the infirmary to ask Owen to come back and look at you, but the mage we spoke to didn’t tell him we needed him.”

Finral rolled over to look at Yami. “Why not?”

“Politics, I think. So, we’ve got you wandering all over the place and even more spaced out than usual. Then…” Yami paused. For a moment he wondered about the rest of the story. Did Finral need to hear this again? He looked at the boy’s tired expression, but his eyes were clear. Yami swallowed, and realised that the hesitancy was his, not Finral’s. “You got past me. You remember Henry? You met him today.”

“He’s the house,” Finral said with such conviction despite the incongruity of the statement that Yami had to nod.

“It’s his house. But yeah. I think you're right. He knew something was wrong with you and sent me after you. You were in the room with the bath. You were face down the water when I got there.”

His eyes grew wide. “What? I was in… Why? Didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Yes. We’ve told you before. Owen isn’t sure if you had a big seizure and fell in, or if it was a faint, or a stumble. I pulled you out. You owe Henry, because I only got there in time because of him. Never, ever do that again, Finral. Understand.”

He was pale and a little shaken. “No. No sir. I could have drowned?”

“You were that close, kid. Not your fault, but it ranks up there as things I never want to do again.”

Finral took a deep, wheezy breath. “Then what?”

“The Recovery Mage who refused to speak to Owen put the communicator disc away. And never disconnected it. So we couldn’t get through to anyone. Vanessa took a broom to the city and bullied her way through to Owen. She brought him here, by which time you were having back to back seizures and freaked him out. You’re going to have to ask him the medical stuff. I only know he knocked you out for a bit, then started you on whatever heavy duty stuff it is that’s in those injections. 

Another yawn. 

“You want me to stop now?”

“No. Just, don’t take too long.”

“Owen says he should have known you were having seizures when he saw you the last time. You had wandered off and were way more confused than before. Owen’s boss said that he should have thought of it and put you in the recovery spell. But because you told him you’d had the tablets for the headaches that morning he assumed it was that.”

“But that seems, reasonable. He shouldn’t have got into trouble for that.”

“I know. But she’s scary and I think she had stuff she wanted to do that was easier with Owen out of the way. He couldn’t take you to the infirmary to sort you out, so he’s been your own personal Recovery Mage for the past week, and shit, but this stuff’s been complicated. You got pneumonia probably from inhaling the water when you nearly drowned. Owen says it would take about half an hour of his recovery spell to sort you out. But the spell senses that the seizure meds are in your blood and ‘heals’ that too. If he heals the pneumonia, you're back to the start with the seizures. So he’s been treating you with something else in the injection and physical therapy.”

“That’s what all the moving about and breathing deep is?” The boy’s eyes were flickering closed, but he was still fighting it. 

“Yeah. Look, tomorrow Owen’s going to meet up with some of the Recovery Mages and maybe the Wizard King to talk about what happened about the communicator disc. They’re going to come here and speak to all of us if you can stay awake. Owen says it's important. So we’re going to help him.”

“Hmm?” Finral’s eyes were closed. 

“Never mind. Go to sleep. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

Gordon arrived a little while later and let Yami away. Gordon had his sewing things again. The project was taking shape into a small doll with brown hair and a little Black Bull’s robe. He said something to Yami, which was probably not as creepy as it sounded. Yami said goodnight and went to his own room.


	7. Chapter 7

When Yami got up the next morning, he checked Finral’s room first. The bed was unoccupied and the bedcovers tucked in with neat hospital corners. The futon had been folded away.

So he followed the smell of coffee to the kitchen. Gordon, Finral and Charmy were already there. Charmy was making porridge and toast. Gordon looked up at Yami’s entrance, but Finral was focused on buttering his toast with the weaker left hand. He was biting his lip with the concentration required. It was only when Gordon said something that Finral jumped and noticed that Yami was there.

“Morning,” Finral said when Gordon had finished speaking. “Sleep well?”

It was so ordinary that Yami barked out a laugh. “Yes. You hungry?”

“Starving.” He was still wheezy, but nothing like as bad as he had been even last night. His eyes were a little glassy, but Yami assumed that the meds were the cause. The boy bit into his half buttered toast and asked, “Can I go outside today?”

Yami laughed again. “Ask the boss, but if Owen says yes, why not.”

“Great.”

Owen and Vanessa joined them. Vanessa poured them both coffee while Owen prepared one of the syringes. He could not contain his smile as Finral devoured his second slice of toast. The boy even held out his arm without complaint for the needle as he ate. 

“Could I go outside today Owen? Ow. That hurts... Yami says I’ve got to ask you, but I think it’ll be fine. I won’t do magic. My leg’s not working properly, but I think I can manage, and maybe someone will keep me company.”

As if any of them were ready to let him go without supervision.

“It’s going to be a nice day. I bet there's loads of wildlife in that forest. We could make a feeder for the birds and see what kinds come. There are always some at the windows. Maybe there’s a book in the library with the different kinds…”

He continued to chatter as he ate. Owen looked a little taken aback and Yami grinned. The Recovery Mage had never met this Finral with the chattering and happy planning. Yami leaned back on his chair. This was nice. He’d missed it. 

While Finral organised with Vanessa making a hide so they could watch some of the shyer animals, Yami said to Owen, “Your guys are going to come today?”

“Yes. They’re going to come before lunch. Julius and another independent advisor along with two representatives of Harallen, the Recovery Mage who took your call. I told them that he cannot come. I made up something about the traumatic effect on your team, but Julius and Rednicht know it’s because I can’t guarantee his safety if he walks into this building.”

Yami glanced at Finral, who was watching Vanessa’s creation of prototype hides. He was rubbing his left arm. “Damn straight,” Yami said.

“They are only coming to hear what you said to the mage, and then to decide if Finral was directly harmed by the delay in treatment.”

“He looks better today.”

“I’ve got my notes. But, you know he only looks better because you saw him when he was nearly dying. He isn’t anywhere near well yet. He’s on a dose of seizure meds that should knock out a horse. I’ve never had to give this much to anyone else and I doubt any of my colleagues have either. He’s underweight. That left leg is still a concern. The pneumonia is by no means cleared. There is enough evidence to prove he’s been harmed by what happened.”

Yami looked at the boy again and inspected him with an independent eye. He was beyond pale, too skinny with dark rings under his eyes. He wheezed with each breath. His eyes were still far away when he was not concentrating. Vanessa had pulled her chair closer so that he could lean into her as they talked.

“Hey,” Yami said, having caught part of their conversation. “You climb up a tree before Owen says you can, Finral, and I will bring you down and kill you myself.”

The boy gave a sheepish grin and Vanessa flashed a thumbs up. She looked better today too. They had all become tangled up with this kid.

“Yeah, Yami. No trees yet.”

“Same goes for the damn roof. Understand. This isn’t the Grey Deer barracks that were so close to the ground that you could jump up there.”

A wistful expression came over the boy’s face. 

“No. No roof yet,” Owen added. 

“Later then,” Finral said and went back into conference with Vanessa. 

The outing plans were put off until after lunch as Finral wilted in front of their eyes. He curled up against Vanessa and she put an arm around him and patted him fondly. “Why can’t I stay awake?” he yawned.

“The medication, Finral,” Owen explained. “We can reduce the dose tomorrow. One more day to make sure the fever stays down.”

“Hmm.” His eyes were already closed. 

Yami carried him back to the common room and his space on the sofa. Charmy sent along a sheep cook that expanded and positioned itself for Finral to lean into. He wriggled into its warmth again. Vanessa went to find a book of birds in the library and a hinted at plan that seemed to involve Henry in some way.

Finral continued to wheeze in his sleep, but the fever was better. He drooled a little onto the sheep’s fleece, but if anything it looked at him with fondness. If a sheep could look fond. 

When the familiar mana of Cob’s transportation spell flared in the garden, Finral shifted and opened his eyes again. He pulled himself up with the right arm, ignoring the weak left one. The sheep cook inspected him before shrinking back down to a regular sheep size and jumping off the sofa to wander away.

Finral watched it go. “Do you think it’s the same one as yesterday? Or does she send different ones? Does it have a name?”

“Who knows, kid? Are you ready for visitors?”

His ki flashed in panic. “What? No. I forgot. Shit. You said last night didn’t you? I forgot. People from the infirmary. What am I supposed to say to them?” 

Owen leaned over and put his hand on Finral’s arm. “It’s okay. They’re only going to ask you a few things. Medical questions about how you’re feeling. Me and Yami and Vanessa will be here.”

Finral stared at the door as if expecting a monster to burst through. His breathing sped up and the wheeze became louder. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

Owen glanced at Yami. “It’s going to be fine. If you’re able to try that will help. We can ask them to stop if you feel upset.”

There was a knock at the front door and Finral flinched and crawled back into the chair. He was shaking his head in panic and as close to hyperventilating as the wheeze would let him.

“I’m gonna tell the bastards to wait,” Yami said.

“Don’t go.” Finral gasped and tried to grab for him.

“Listen, kid. I’m going to enjoy telling them to kick back in the garden for a while. You need Owen to stay here with you. I will be back in two minutes, understand.”

Finral nodded through his panic. “You’re coming back, you’re coming back,” he whispered.

“Of course I am. I’m going to the door. Idiot.” He ruffled his hair before he left.

Yami yanked open the front door. An unknown mage was standing with his hand raised to knock again. The dark magic responded to Yami’s mood and he felt it fill him as he said, “Stop that.”

The mage was older than Owen and dressed in finer robes that Yami had seen outside the royal households. His face had been creased into a disgruntled frown, but now contorted into fear at the apparition that had opened the door.

Julius came to the rescue. “Captain Yami. Can we come in, or do you need us to wait for a moment?”

Yami did not take his stare away from the mage who had knocked. “You stay outside. Don’t knock again.” He allowed the dark magic to disperse before he looked at the others. Julius was standing with the other independent advisor. Fuegoleon fucking Vermillion. Yami let himself relax a little. 

Neither of them had pulled on their powerful magic despite Yami’s appearance. He nodded to them and said, “Julius. Fuegoleon.” The other figure seemed to be a younger Recovery Mage with a round face and dark hair. He had taken a step back too and his ice magic was active. “Turn that down, idiot,” Yami said to him. “Unless you want to fight me.”

“That won’t be necessary,” the older mage said. He bristled like someone used to being obeyed. Yami assumed that this was the supervisor, so the younger one was the supportive colleague. He hated them both already. He compared their finery with the plain robes that Owen usually wore and remembered that the underlying problem was the same elitism that ran through all of society. 

“It won’t,” Yami agreed. “If he puts his magic away.”

Julius did not sigh. He might have though. He stepped in between Yami and the Recovery Mages. “Now, Yami. You said you wanted us to wait. That’s acceptable. Will you come and get us when you are ready?”

Yami growled for effect and slammed the door on them. He knew Julius and Fuegoleon would understand.

Finral was no calmer when he returned. His face was wet with tears and he was trembling. He looked terrified and was breathing too fast. He tried to get up from the sofa, but his leg was so unsteady Owen had to catch him before he fell. Yami took him from Owen and the boy hid himself in Yami’s chest. He sobbed and shook. “Can’t, can’t, can’t,” he mumbled.

Yami caught Owen’s eye, who shrugged. “Finral. You don’t have to do this. It’s okay. We can tell them to come back when you’re ready.”

He could feel the boy shake his head against him, then as deep a breath as the wheeze would allow. He pulled away from Yami. “You said…” he paused to catch his breath. “Was to help Owen.”

“Sit down, before you fall over.” He nudged the boy back onto the sofa, then sat beside him and let him squeeze in tight. “Yes. It’s to help Owen. They need to know what happened to you because we couldn’t get Owen to come when we needed him. You aren’t in trouble. You don’t have to speak to them, but if they can come and see you that would help. We can ask them to leave whenever we want. I’ll chase them out with dark magic if I have to.”

The shaking was a little better. “How many are there?”

“Julius and Fuegoleon and two Recovery Mages. That’s all.” 

Owen looked up at Fuegoleon’s name and a small frown crossed his face. He mouthed ‘I’ll explain’. 

“You won’t leave? I don’t know what to say to them.”

“Look, kid. You don’t have to say anything to them. They are here to see Owen and his paperwork. They can see you from the door if we have to.”

“Wanna to help Ow’n.” He murmured. 

“That’s it. These are our rules. No one asks you any questions. Only me or Owen. We can ask you if we think you can answer. You get upset, we send them away. I get pissed off with them, we send them away. They look funny, we send them away. No one comes near you unless I say they can. Anything else.”

Finral shook his head. “Is gonna to be okay,” he whispered to himself. “Helping Ow’n.” Yami helped him back against the back of the sofa, and he lay back and squeezed his eyes closed. He was still shaking, but he had his breathing back under control. 

Beyond the door Yami whispered to Owen, “What’s wrong with Fuegoleon being here?”

“You never asked the name of the mage you spoke to in the Infirmary that night, did you?”

Yami had a sinking feeling in his stomach. “No.”

“His name is Harallen Vermillion. He’s Fuegoleon’s cousin.”

No wonder Julius was involved. If this went all the way to the Vermillions, then it went right to one of the most prestigious families in the country. Owen’s boss had been right to get him out of the city while she pitted herself against that level of privilege. And now Finral was caught in the middle of it.

But this was Fuegoleon. The most straight-laced, honest, conventional of all the Captains. Truth and justice were more important to him than his family’s name. There could not have been a better independent advisor. 

Yami slapped Owen’s arm. “It’s Fuegoleon, Owen. He’s a magic knight before he’s anything else. Even a Vermillion. Anyone thinks they can get past his decency because they share a grandparent is in for a surprise. And he’s a bleeding heart. He wouldn’t have anyone give Finral a hard time even if you and I weren’t there. Not when he sees the state of him. If you’ve got Julius and Fuegoleon on your side there’s not much you can’t do. It’s going to be okay.”

Owen went back to Finral, even though the risk of another seizure looked less when the boy was calmer. Yami felt better taking control of these visitors himself.

He tugged the front door open again. Julius and Fuegoleon were in the middle of the lawn, absorbed in the appearance of the building. The two Recovery Mages were also talking together, but they were watching the front door. 

“Captain Yami,” Julius said. The use of his full title was not accidental. “Thank you for letting us come.”

“Julius. Fuegoleon.” He nodded at the two most powerful mages in the country, then turned to the Recovery Mages. “And whoever the hell you are. You can come in this building. Owen says you want to find out what happened when we tried to call the infirmary and we were ignored. You can ask me and Vanessa about that. But only us. No one mentions it to Finral.”

Fuegoleon nodded, and Julius said, “Understood.” The two Recovery Mages did not respond.

“Owen said that you want to see the boy, because you want to see how much damage this caused. You can only do that on my terms.”

“But…” the older Recovery Mage started to say.

“No,” Yami said and pulled on the dark magic again. “This is not negotiable. No one comes into this building until you agree how you will behave. No one goes near him. No one asks him any questions. You can ask me. If it’s not a fucking stupid question, I might ask Finral. But no one talks to him. And when I say it's over, it's over. No questions. No complaints.”

“This is unacceptable…” The Recovery Mage tried to start again.

Yami growled at him. “Perhaps you haven’t been reading the notes here. This sixteen year old kid was badly injured protecting young mages of this country. He’s been having seizures, he’s feverish with pneumonia and he’s so looped up on medication that he can barely think straight. He is fucking terrified of you lot coming in here and quizzing him. And he did nothing wrong. He isn’t on trial. So you come here, it’s on my sufferance only. I will not have anyone make it worse than it already is. Understand.”

Fuegoleon frowned at the Recovery Mages, “Is this true? If things are as Yami says, perhaps we should be doing this at another time?” 

“No,” the older mage said. “We need this dealt with now. The longer this goes on, the worse it is for the Infirmary.”

“Yet, Fuegoleon and Yami are also right. Finral is the victim here and we need to proceed with the utmost care. Do you think Finral will cope with seeing us, if we follow your instructions?” Julius asked. “They seem perfectly reasonable to me, but we won’t see him if you think it’ll cause him distress.”

“He wants to help. Do it my way and we should be okay. But when I tell you to leave, you go. If anyone stops to ask questions they leave with my sword in their guts.”

Fuegoleon, the worrywort, frowned at Yami, because he would. But Julius gave a bright smile. “Excellent. Shall we proceed? I’d suggest we meet Finral first so that he’s not worried longer than he should be.”

Julius led the way into the common room. Vanessa had returned and Finral was squeezed up beside her. She held his hand. The boy was still shaking and wheezing and for a moment Yami saw him the way the visitors would. He looked younger than sixteen, and nowhere near recovered. He was pale, with large worried eyes. He was underweight and the hand holding Vanessa’s was skin and bone. He was wheezing with each breath. The terror rolled off him in waves, but he was struggling to keep calm. He had bitten his lip in his determination. 

Owen sat at one of the tables. Gordon stood beside the wall. Charmy had a tray of tea and an expression ready to cut glass.

At the door, Fuegoleon said, “Perhaps this isn’t necessary.” He was frowning at the Recovery Mages. “It is quite obvious that the young man is not well enough for this.”

Charmy smiled at him and gave him a cup of tea.

Julius sat down on the far side of the room and indicated that the other visitors should do the same. Charmy took him tea with the same bright smile as Fuegoleon received. If it was possible to aggressively not give someone tea, Charmy managed it as she handed out cups to everyone but the two new Recovery Mages. 

Julius drank and smiled at Finral. “I’m glad to see you looking better. I visited when you were asleep, and I’m very pleased to see you awake.” Then he put down his cup and spoke formally. “I think Owen and Yami have explained why we are here. I want you, and your friends to hear it from us too. You are not in any trouble. You have done nothing wrong. We are trying to find out what happened six nights ago when you became unwell. It would help us to learn a few things from you. Yami has asked us to put our questions to him. You don't have to answer anything you don't want to, and we understand that there will be things that you can't remember. You can give your answers to Yami, Owen, Vanessa or anyone you choose. 

“If you want to stop talking to us at any time, we will stop the interview straight away. We don’t need to know why. Tell Vanessa or Yami and we’ll leave. We’re going to speak to them after we talk to you anyway, so even if you can’t tell us anything, it is okay. You can ask us questions if you want too. Is that all clear, Yami?”

Yami glanced at the boy, who did not respond. “Yeah, Julius. Start talking. Keep it short.”

“How are you feeling, Finral?”

Finral glanced at the Wizard King, the first time he had acknowledged the four visitors. Yami said, “Kid, you want to answer, or I can.”

Finral shook his head and squeezed Vanessa’s hand tighter. 

“Fucking awful, Julius. You want to talk about the pneumonia, the seizures, or the leg that won’t work? Headaches? Sleeping all the time?”

Fuegoleon’s frown was getting deeper.

The older Recovery Mage said, “We know the boy was injured. We are here to establish what was a complication of the original injury and what, if anything, was made worse by the events in question.”

Finral picked up on the irritation in the man’s tone and squeezed further into Vanessa's side. She scowled.

Yami pointed at the Recovery Mage. “You speak again and you all leave.” To Finral he said, “You want to carry on?”

The boy hesitated before nodding. His lips were moving as he murmured to himself. Vanessa pulled him into a hug. 

Julius asked gently. “You mentioned pneumonia. What is that like?”

Finral looked at Yami and whispered. “Coughing. Can’t breath. Cold. Always cold.”

“Do you know when you started to feel like that?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, sir. I can’t keep track. I think I’m losing days, but Owen says that’s… that’s… I don’t know the word.”

“Expected,” Yami suggested.

He nodded. “Sorry.”

“Finral. It’s okay,” said the Wizard King. “You’re doing great. Do you think it's getting better or getting worse?”

“Better. I don’t remember much of anything yesterday. I don’t think I could talk like this yesterday.”

“Can you tell us anything about the seizures?”

“No. Well. I remember what it feels like afterwards. Sore. Sore and frightened. Yami says there are two kinds. I remember the little ones better. I know something’s wrong, I can feel it all sort of escaping from me. I don’t remember anything about the big ones, but I feel all sore afterwards. I can tell you the injections are no fun.”

Julius smiled at him and Finral looked like he might have stopped shaking. His eyes were fixed on Julius, as though focusing on one person might make this bearable. He had loosened his grip on Vanessa. Damn but the Wizard King was good.

“Do you get side effects from the medicine?”

Finral shrugged. “The needles sting. I get sleepy after them. Is that what you want to know?”

“Exactly that. Good.”

“The other thing that Yami mentioned was your leg. Can you tell me about that?”

“This one?” He pointed to the left leg. “Umm. It doesn’t work properly. I keep tripping over it.”

“Can you walk on your own?”

“No. I haven’t really tried. Not since... that thing that you’re here to talk about. It was working before. I could walk on my own. I don’t think it would be such a good idea just now.”

“Do you remember anything about the thing that happened that we’re here to talk about?”

“No.” Finral’s open expression closed off again and he leaned back into Vanessa.

“I’m nearly done. You’ve done fine. Yami said headaches. What about them?”

“Mostly when I’m tired. I don’t know. It was bad one time and I couldn’t have any… any…” He glanced at Yami for the word.

“Painkillers.”

“Painkillers. Because of the other....” He yawned. His left leg was jittering.

It was the way it did before the seizures. The boy was finished. Yami said. “We’re done now people.”

“But…” The older Recovery Mage said. 

Fuegoleon responded by almost lifting him off his seat and propelling him out the room. The younger mage hurried behind looking concerned.

Julius said, “Finral. You did a remarkable job. Thank you.” He left. 

Owen was already drawing up a syringe of medication. 

“Yami, Yami, Yami, ‘nessa,” Finral was murmuring. Vanessa had gathered him into her arms and he rocked in her hold. 

“Shh. It’s done. You did great.”

The left leg was getting worse, then he suddenly stopped moving in Vanessa’s arms as though someone had cut his power. Yami could see the vacant expression of one of the partial seizures on his face. Vanessa ran her hands through his hair and did not let go of his hand. 

Owen was able to straighten out the arm and gave the injection into the unflinching limb. 

It only took a minute or two for the boy to slouch into Vanessa’s arms and give the gulping wheezy breath that meant the seizure was over. “Finral. You’re okay. You’re back.” She looked at Owen. “He’s hot again.”

“Probably the seizure and the stress. Let’s see if sleep will help. I could have given him that dose earlier, but he was holding it together really well. ”

Yami looked around. Fuegoleon was standing at the door watching them. 

Vanessa put Finral down to lie on his side on the sofa and pulled the blanket over him. He looked ghastly again.

“You should not have let us come,” Fuegoleon said to Yami. He was looking at Finral with concern.

“Maybe. But Owen needed this done, and we owe him. You got Finral coherent today. Yesterday we had fever dreams from his childhood. Not fun.”

Fuegoleon shook his head as though at some internal thought. “Can you come with Owen and Vanessa to talk to us now? But we can wait if you want to stay with him.”

“No. We need to get this done. He really is a lot better than he was yesterday. Gordon can stay and keep an eye on him.

Gordon nodded. Owen gave his usual short instructions that amounted to ‘Come get me if something is wrong, or if you think something is wrong, or if you are not sure if something is wrong or not. Come get me.’


	8. Chapter 8

Julius had taken the Recovery Mages into the kitchen. They were reading Owen’s pile of paper notes and Julius was drinking tea. The younger of the Recovery Mages was sitting away from the others at the door with a file on his lap. He read silently with a serious frown. The older mage was more vocal about his findings. “I’m just not sure I can find any evidence that the delayed attendance made the seizures any worse. There’s no way to predict the extension of partial seizures to generalised seizures. It was likely to happen at some point given their frequency.”

Owen and Fuegoleon put a hand on each of Yami’s arms to hold him back. “He hadn’t had any big seizures until after he nearly drowned,” he growled.

“But, here,” the mage found the corresponding page, “you reported that he was found asleep on the floor. That would indicate that the generalised seizures preceded the event in the bathroom.”

Vanessa said, “Call it a near-drowning. Not an event. He nearly died because we couldn’t get help.”

“I’m not sure we’ve actually established that….” the mage said. 

Yami was about to answer again, when Julius said. “Wait, Captain, Miss Enoteca. You do not have to defend anything. We’re here to review the facts. Captain Fuegoleon and myself are independent observers. If there is a difference of opinion between the medical experts in this case,” he nodded towards the older mage and then Owen, “then we will advise on the evidence. So far we have listened to the contact with the triage mage in the infirmary.” 

Yami knew he was not imagining the way Fuegoleon’s complexion flushed at that reminder, or the frown that crossed his face. Yami almost grinned. Someone had thought that Fuegoleon’s familial contact with that bastard would help. It was more likely to make things worse. Fuegoleon held his family to his own impossible standards.

Julius was continuing to speak, “And we’ve spoken to Finral Roulacase.”

“For what that was worth,” the Recovery Mage muttered. 

Yami lunged across the table, but Vanessa was faster. She had the mage wrapped in her threads before he could respond to Yami’s threat and said, “Finral had a seizure because of how stressed this made him. He’s running a fever again. This morning he was planning to go in the garden for the first time in weeks. And now he’s sleeping off another fit. Don’t ever, ever dismiss what he put himself through to do that you useless piece of…”

Owen put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay Vanessa.”

“Yes,” Julius said. He spoke to the older Recovery Mage. “I think for all our benefit, it would be best if you keep your comments to yourself.” He glanced behind them at the younger mage, who kept silent. He was taking notes from Owen’s records. His pen scratched on a pad of paper and he did not look up. 

Once he had made his rebuke, Julius asked, “Is that what happened? He had a seizure because of my questions.”

Owen answered. “He had a partial seizure and came out of it within a minute or so. He’s okay, but yes. He was very upset about doing this.” 

“Will it set him back?”

“At worst a day or so. But he was better this morning, so I don’t think it will hold him back for long.”

Julius still looked concerned, but nodded. “Very well. We will try to make this as quick as possible, Yami and Vanessa. Thank you for helping. Now, we’ve listened to the call that was put through. I would like to ask a couple of questions about the call itself, then I would like to know in your words what happened between making the call and Owen’s arrival.

The scratch scratch of the younger mage’s pen continued from the back of the room as Julius spoke.

“When you contacted the infirmary, you updated the mage on the reason for Owen’s visit earlier. You stated that Owen had asked you to call back if there were any changes. What changes had you noticed?” 

“You heard it, Julius. He wandered off twice more. He was sleeping on the floor. I found him at the bottom of the stairs with a bloody nose.”

Julius turned to Owen. “Owen, would you have considered those things changes from the way you saw him the previous morning.”

Owen nodded. 

The older mage started to say something, but before Yami or Vanessa could react, Julius had raised his hand. Somehow, it held as much threat as Yami’s dark magic. “You have had your chance to give me your opinion. Now it is someone else's turn, Doctor.” To Owen, “Please, continue.” 

Scratch, scratch, scratch of the pen. 

“Yes. He had been confused, but never had evidence of injury or of possible loss of consciousness.”

“Would you have expected someone to call you to discuss these things if they were following your instructions?”

“Yes. Even when he was asleep on the floor, I would have come back sooner than I had planned. Certainly if he had hurt himself because he was confused. It would have made me consider that there was another cause.”

“Understood. Did you mention any of those potential changes you were looking out for to Yami or Vanessa?”

“No. I said I wanted to know if anything changed because it would include any of those things. I would have been happy if they had called to report an improvement.”

“Did you have an expectation that the systems within the infirmary meant that you, as the named physician, would be contacted if any of your patients called?”

“I thought so.” He sighed. “Perhaps if the report had been that Finral was much better, I could have understood why the message was delayed. But I’ve made clear more than once that information on my patients needs to come back to me.”

Fuegoleon leaned forward. “Owen. Are you implying that this has happened before?”

“This is not the issue,” the older Recovery Mage said before Julius could raise his hand.

“On the contrary,” Fuegoleon said. “I find it very pertinent. Please answer, Owen.”

“Yes. This isn’t the first time I haven’t been told that one of my patients has deteriorated.”

“I will need to see the details of these cases,” Fuegoleon said to Julius. 

“Of course. We'll see what evidence Marx can find for us when we get back.”

In the silence as the older mage digested this, Yami realised that Julius was enjoying this. Weirdo.

“Now. We’ve established that Owen would have expected those clinical changes to be relayed to him by the accepted means. We have established that the Black Bulls made the appropriate efforts to do so. All I see now is the question of whether the delay caused the patient harm.”

The older Recovery Mage spluttered, “Now, I don’t see that we have established those two facts at all.”

Julius sighed and frowned. Yami grinned. He recognised this. Not many people had lived with Julius Novochrono and knew his habits as well as Yami did. This Recovery Mage was pissing Julius off, and he was about to get wiped on the floor and not even realise it. Even the pen-scratching noise had stopped. Yami sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. He was going to enjoy this. 

“You requested my presence here as an independent investigator into the truth of what happened. You even asked for Captain Fuegoleon by name. Do not presume that I am unaware of the reason for that request.”

“I found it rather unsavoury that you thought I would be less than independent when I was investigating a member of my family,” Fuegoleon said.

“We have listened to your opinions on the case. Opinions, Sir. No facts. We have listened to many more of them I think necessary. Now we have established facts, you are not allowed to contradict them with more opinions. If you are unable to be silent then you will need to leave.”

The older Recovery Mage spluttered, but did not say anything.

“So, if I can continue. Two facts have been established. I am left only with determining harm. Yami or Vanessa, can you explain what happened after you made that call.”

Vanessa waved for Yami to continue. “Finral slept for a bit. I thought maybe we’d be okay until the morning, but I tried the communicator a couple of times to be sure. Gordon put him to bed and I was going to stay awake to keep an eye on him. I must have dozed off, because he got up in the night while I was sleeping. He wandered into the room with the bath. I…” He paused as his brain supplied the sound of that quiet splash then the visual memory of the boy, face down in the water. “Gonna just say this all Julius. Don’t interrupt or ask stuff. Right?”

“Certainly.”

“He was face down in the water. There was blood. I pulled him out and slapped him on the back. It probably wasn’t long until he coughed up the water, but, shit it felt like ages. He was confused for a little while, then unconscious. Vanessa said she’d go and try the communicator again, and if there was no way to get through, she was going to fly to the Capital to get someone. Even through the storm. Gordon helped me get Finral warmed up and dried off. That’s when he had the big seizures. Three of them, one after the other. Shit. Let’s never do that again. He never woke up in between them.”

“Thank you,” Julius said into the silence after Yami’s words. “I have no further questions for you. Fuegoleon?”

“No. I have no questions.” Yami was not sure he had ever seen that expression on the usually stern face. He was reminded of his words to Owen. Fuegoleon was a bleeding heart. The state of Finral, and Yami's story, had upset him.

The older Recovery Mage said, “Opinions. You said that opinions did not challenge facts. There is nothing in that story but opinions.”

“On the contrary, I think we have seen our facts earlier. Even without medical training I can see a young man dealing with serious health consequences as a result, of among other things, a near drowning. An event that would not have happened if he had been offered the assistance that he should have. What does your colleague think?”

They turned to the seat that the younger of the Recovery Mages had been sitting on. 

It was empty. The notebook and scratch-scratch pen had been left on the floor.

Yami’s mind was able to respond, ‘oh, shit,’ before the room started to shake.

And shake and shake and shake as if the foundations were being removed.

Yami started running back to the common room even as he tried to remember how long it had been since he had heard the scratch scratch of the pen. When had the mage left?

There were others running behind him, Vanessa, Owen and Julius at least. But it was hard to hear anything else over the sounds of the house convulsing. A painting crashed off a wall and furniture was knocked over. If Henry did not calm down he was going to make it more difficult to get to Finral and Gordon. 

“We’re going as fast as we can,” Vanessa yelled.

The shaking seemed to ease a little. 

Yami threw the common room door open and pulled on the dark magic at the same time.

The Recovery Mage was holding a spell over Finral’s sleeping shape. At this range Yami could recognise it as an ice recovery spell from the crystals forming on the blanket’s surface. Owen shouted, “Stop him.”

Yami brought his katana down between the mage and Finral. The spell fizzled out as the mage yelled and fell backwards. Once Yami had his sword at the cowering man’s neck, he said, “Vanessa. Where the hell is Gordon?”

It was Julius who answered, “He’s out cold, but he’s breathing. I think he’s been injected with something.”

“What did you do?” Yami snarled at the man cowering at the end of his katana. 

“Lies. It was lies. A plot against my brother. Leaving him like that when he could be healed properly…”

Yami advanced his katana so it was touching skin. “You’re making no sense.”

Yami felt a warm hand on his arm. Fuegoleon said, “I can restrain this man.” Yami was about to object, when Fuegoleon continued, “Your magic knight needs you.”

It was the only thing anyone could have said to make Yami drop the katana’s point and relinquish control of the prisoner. He felt the rush of heat as Fuegoleon activated his magic to bind the mage.

Owen was kneeling at Finral’s head. He had the water recovery spell activated. Vanessa was alongside with the boy’s hand in hers. Finral was awake and his eyes darted around the room as if watching a room full of insects. He was shaking despite the spell. 

Owen said, “There’s none left,” almost to himself. Yami knew he was talking about the anti-seizure medication that had been at a steady state in Finral’s bloodstream. It was gone. “Shit. Get me my bag.”

The older Recovery Mage was very white, but he brought Owen the bag. Owen started firing complicated drug names at him. The other Recovery Mage began to draw things up into a syringe.

“Yami?” Finral whispered. His eyes were still flickering at imaginary things. Yami put his face in front of the boy’s so that he could meet his gaze. 

“Yeah kid.”

“Wha’s happened. Cold.” He was shivering. “Can’t see right.”

“Owen’s gonna fix it, okay.”

“Gordon. Wha’ you’d say abou’ Gordon?”

“Oh, shit, Finral. He’s out cold, but he’ll be okay.” Yami prayed it was true.

“Can’t see. Feel wrong.”

“Shh. It’s okay.”

But when Yami glanced at Owen’s worried face, he knew it was as far from okay as it was possible to be.

“Talk, Owen. What’s going to happen?”

“His nervous system is going into shock. The body’s withdrawing from the massive doses of a drug that was stabilising it. He’s going to seize as soon as I release the spell.” Finral shuddered and whimpered. “Probably even with the spell. I need two hours to get anything like the same level of the drug back into his system. I can’t use the recovery spell in that time to stop him seizing.”

“Can’t you do what you did before? You knocked him out.”

“No,” he stated. 

Vanessa saw his grim look. She placed her hands around Finral’s ears and brought her face close so that all he could hear were her whispered reassurances. His left leg was spasming.

“No,” Owen said again. “His lungs are too weak to survive that level of sedation. It'd kill him. I need something to put the brain to sleep without affecting his breathing, and I don’t know any magic or drug that can do that.”

“He can’t have seizures for two hours, Owen. You said that.”

“I know. I’m running out of options.”

“Owen,” Vanessa whispered. Even with the recovery spell, Finral’s eyes had rolled back and the spasm from the leg was now affecting his whole body. Blood streaked spit pooled on his lips. 

“It’s going to get worse when I let the spell go,” Owen warned them. “Get him on his side.”

Yami and Vanessa rolled him onto his side. She wiped the fluid from his mouth. His breathing was quiet little rhythmic gasps against the convulsion. 

Julius said, “Owen. Would sleep magic do it?”

“I know the theory,” Owen said. “But I’ve never met anyone able to put someone out so completely that they don’t even dream. It needs to be that kind of sleep. I’m going to give him the injection as soon as I drop the spell.”

Julius said, “I’m sorry, Yami. Keep thinking of other ways.” He had his communication disc out and was running to the door. Yami thought he said, “I need an emergency portal…” before his voice was lost in the corridor.

“Where’s he going?” Vanessa demanded.

“It doesn’t matter,” Owen snapped at them. “I’m going to release the spell. Yami. Hold his arm still for me. Vanessa, you’ve got his head. Make sure his airway stays open.”

Yami could hear Fuegoleon speaking behind him, then Charmy’s angry hiss, but he would deal with it in a moment. The recovery spell dropped and whatever was going on in Finral’s brain seemed to amplify. It was hard to fight against the muscle contractions to hold his arm still for Owen to give the injection. He was so underweight it felt like his bones might snap under Yami’s grip.

“You need to stay there, Yami. I’m going to repeat them every five minutes to start.” 

There was no change with the medication, of course. Yami remembered Finral's complaint that they hurt. 

Yami took the opportunity to glance around the room. His eye was drawn first to Gordon, who was beginning to stir. Charmy was stroking his hair and the older of the Recovery Mages was disposing of a needle and syringe. “What did you do?” Yami demanded.

The mage cringed away from Yami but Gordon was rubbing his hands over his eyes, so perhaps the anger was misplaced. “I… I administered the antidote,” he mumbled into his hand.

“I have been observing,” Fuegoleon said. “The young lady confirmed the name of the sedative used by the prisoner.”

So that explained Charmy’s angry hiss. The younger mage in Fuegoleon’s custody was pale and cringing away from her. 

“You good, Gordon?”

Of course Gordon’s answer was inaudible but Charmy patted his arm and said, “It’s not your fault, Gordon.” He was wobbly and even paler than usual, if that could be possible. 

Finral’s seizure continued unabated. There was a steady drip of blood from his mouth and nose that Vanessa wiped. She cleaned the small amount of vomit from his face and the sofa. His breathing did not have the wheeze, but it sounded constricted and moist. Yami felt his pulse point at his wrist. It was weak and thready. His head knocked against the pillow that Vanessa supported him with.

Two hours of this? Shit, the kid looked done after less than five minutes. Could you survive this for two hours? And if you could, what kind of damage would it do?

“If he dies,” Yami said aloud. “Then I kill you too, mage. For what you’ve done.”

The young mage started to answer, but Charmy snarled and there was a blaze of heat from Fuegoleon’s spell. Was he a Vermillion too, Yami wondered. He had said something about his brother being framed.

Yami’s musings were interrupted by Owen. “Again, Yami please.”

He pulled the boy’s arm around for another injection. The skin was bruised and red, and the last injection point was still oozing. That had never happened before. This time Owen used a smaller needle and it took longer for the syringe to empty against the contracting muscles. Perhaps there was a little slackening in the seizure, but there was no sign of it stopping.

Owen checked the boy’s pupils. The whites of both eyes were red with burst blood vessels. Even Yami could see the reaction to Owen’s small torch light was slower on the left. “There’s evidence of swelling around the brain already,” Owen said. “He isn’t going to survive an hour of this, never mind two.”

Vanessa ran her hands through Finral’s hair. It was damp with sweat. “Owen. Are you saying he’s going to die?” Her voice was very calm.

“I’m going to keep trying. But you’ve got to be prepared. It’s not going to work like last time. Even if he survives more than an hour of seizure activity, the brain is going to be so damaged that there won’t be anything left of who you knew. I’m sorry.” He had tears running down his cheeks.

Vanessa’s eyes were dry. She planted a small chaste kiss on Finral’s forehead, then turned away.

Her threads were wrapped around the younger mage’s throat before anyone else could react. “You have until I count to three to say something to explain yourself. Then I kill you.”

Yami reached out to Vanessa at the same moment as Fuegoleon tried to stand in her way.

“Don’t you dare,” she said to both of them and wrapped them in thread too. It wasn’t tight, but enough to restrain them for a moment. Neither Captain wanted to fight her. “My best friend is dying. Is being murdered by that man and I deserve an explanation. One. Two. “

“I was healing him…” the mage started to say.

“Does this look like healing?” 

“I… I thought it was exaggeration. To get Harallen in trouble.”

In the same cold tone, she said, “And what do you think now?”

“I…” 

“Look at him. You haven’t seen what you’ve done. Look properly.”

One of her threads tugged his head around so that he was facing Owen and Finral. “Move,” she said to Yami, and gave a pull on his thread. It was a suggestion rather than demand. But if she wanted to do this, he was not going to stand in her way until she did something she might regret. And even then, he might not try to stop her.

Yami moved back so that the mage could see what his actions had caused. Finral’s face was caked in blood and the convulsion had not lessened. His breaths bubbled through froth and blood at his mouth and his eyes were half open to show the bloodshot sclera. 

“Now, Yami,” Owen said.

Vanessa’s threads released and he knelt again beside Owen. Another injection into the same vein. The skin was red around the injection site and Yami thought he could see the irritation tracking further up the arm. He could feel the thready pulse under his fingers as he held the arm straight.

“He wanted to come watch birds with me this afternoon,” Vanessa said. 

Yami realised if Finral died, they would lose Vanessa too. 

Since when did his whole squad depend on a cowardly, womanising teenager. They were going to fall apart.

“You should stop,” the older Recovery Mage said to Owen. His face was somber. “I’m sorry, but it’s futile. This is prolonging a torture. There is no hope that he can survive this. I’ve seen it before...” He tried to put his hand on Vanessa’s arm, but she shrugged it off as if it caused pain.

“No,” Vanessa said. “He’s sixteen years old. We don’t stop until he does. Understand.”

Owen nodded. “Agreed.”

But the seizure was not stopping or even resting. There had been gaps that night after the bath when he might have been sleeping, but now it just continued. Owen was drawing up another syringe. Yami wiped the blood from Finral’s lips and nose, but more came. 

Fuegoleon was speaking to Vanessa. His voice was so low that Yami could not hear the words. But he felt her magic pull at her threads and then release. She came back to sit beside Finral. She ran her fingers through his damp hair and whispered to him. The muscle spasms seemed to have lessened, but this felt like exhaustion, as if the body no longer even had the energy to seize properly. His breathing felt like it was less effective, each breath shallower than the last. His pulse at the wrist was irregular. 

“Again, Yami,” Owen said.

There was almost no muscle resistance this time. Owen had trouble getting into the vein to do the injection.

It had been less than twenty minutes and even Yami could feel the boy fading. The bastard was right. It was not going to work. Owen shone his little light into the boy's eyes again, and one pupil was blown wide. The other barely responded. The contractions had faded to a fine tremble and his breathing was fading.

Yami missed the pull of magic in the garden, but Vanessa started as though pricked by a needle. “A portal,” she said.

There were hurried footsteps in the corridor, then Julius pushed the door open. He was not on his own.

Yami reached for the dark magic and drew his katana. He felt a deep horror well up inside him. 

“You,” he hissed.

Julius was there. With Barat. The thug from Ayre. The one who had thrown Finral into a wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, did you see that (or him) coming? I would genuinely love to know. 
> 
> And do I apologise for the cliffhanger. No. Not at all.


	9. Chapter 9

“Stand aside, Yami,” Julius said. “Please.”

If anyone else had asked, Yami would have cut Barat’s head off and got explanations later. But this was Julius. The Wizard King. Yami only believed in a few things in his life, but Julius was the top of the list. He lowered his katana.

Barat stepped forward and Yami raised it again. He would resist the desire to kill this man for Julius, but that did not mean he would let him approach Finral. Ever.

Julius stepped around Barat towards Yami. He put himself in front of the katana. “Owen,” Julius said. “Barat has sleep magic. He can put Finral into a deep sleep. He can hold it for a couple of hours while the medication starts to work again. Owen, do you think that will work?”

Yami did not take his eyes or sword point away from Barat’s neck. “I won’t let him touch him.”

“What kind of sleep?” Owen said to Julius. “It needs to be total. No dreams, no transitions. That’s the only kind of sleep that shuts the brain down the way I need.” 

Yami remembered Julius asking about Barat’s spell, and his own reply. ‘One minute stairs, next minute the cold floor.’ He said, “Yes. It's that sort of spell. ”

“Then it might work.”

Yami trusted Julius. And he trusted Owen. 

Fuegoleon said, “I will help you kill him if he harms him, Yami.”

“Thanks Fuegoleon. I won’t need help though.”

Yami lowered his katana and let Barat approach. Owen was discarding another syringe. 

Here in the Black Bulls hideout, Yami realised how short Barat was. He had lost muscle bulk while in the Clover Kingdom prison. He was balding and his remaining hair was peppered with silver. He looked and felt different to the man that haunted Yami’s dreams. 

His grimoire was open and his spell ready. Owen shuffled back, but Vanessa did not move from her position. " _Sleep magic, dreamless depths._ "

There was a focused pulse of mana and without any transition, the boy took an easy breath. His muscles stopped contracting and the rictus of pain across his face relaxed into sleep. For a second Yami watched as Owen checked his eyes, and chest again. “He’s sleeping,” he said. Then turned to the newcomer. “I don’t care who you are or why you are here. Tell me about your spell.”

Barat looked at Finral as he answered. He ignored Yami and the tension in the room. “I don’t know how it works, although this guy,” he waved at Julius, “seems to have some ideas. I know it puts people to sleep. It doesn’t always last the same length of time and I can’t predict it. He came out of it quicker than anyone I’d ever met the last time, so maybe twenty minutes or so. But I can repeat it as often as I want.”

“You’re the one who hurt him?” Vanessa said. She was still using the cold, dead tone that terrified Yami in a way that few things could.

Barat was still looking at Finral. “Yeah,” he admitted. 

“This is all your fault.” Her ki was full of suppressed violence.

He shrugged. “Maybe. But I didn’t do this. I can feel how close to the edge he is. This is chemical. Something disrupted his brain recently. Someone else did this. It wasn’t me.” He looked towards the mage held within Fuegoleon’s spell. “Oh, a noble, and a Recovery Mage to boot. Yet, he’s the one in fire chains and you’re asking me for help.”

A tremble and a wail ran through the building. “Henry,” Yami said.

Vanessa shook herself. “He thinks Finral’s dead,” she said and stood up. “I can tell him. But you must promise,” she glared at the Wizard King, “that you will not let him hurt Finral again.”

Julius said, “I promise.”

“You too, Yami,” she said and strode from the room.

Fuegoleon said, “Will she be okay?” There was something like awe in his voice.

“If this works, yes. If not…” Yami left it hanging.

“Yami,” Owen said. “Again.”

Yami took Finral’s arm again and held it out for Owen. It was slack and still. There were definite red lines tracking up from the injection points this time. “I need to use the other arm next time,” Owen said. He spoke to Barat. “We’ll need to move him. You. What’s your name? Will that affect the spell?”

“It won’t wake him if that’s what you mean,” Barat answered. He never gave Owen his name.

“Yami, can you?”

Yami lifted Finral into his arms. He was as still as he had been during the walk through the forest. He was chilled with sweat and smelled of blood and vomit. Yami placed him on another sofa so that his left arm was free for Owen to access. He copied the positioning that Gordon had learned from the Recovery Mages.

Now that Owen had a moment, he turned to Gordon. “Gordon, are you okay?”

Gordon nodded and mumbled an answer. 

“The headache should keep improving. Do you think you can get me fresh clothes and something to clean Finral up? It’ll be no good keeping him alive through the seizures if he develops hypothermia.” 

Charmy bustled out with Gordon. 

“You better, Doc?” Yami asked. 

“Yes. This might work. Look,” He flashed his small torch into Finral’s eyes again. The response was sluggish, but equal. “That’s already better. It’s buying us time.”

Yami leaned back and watched the boy breathe for a moment. Maybe they had a chance here. Maybe Barat had given them a chance. The world would never make any sense.

Yami spotted the left leg begin to twitch at the same time as Barat said, “It’s wearing off.”

“Put him out again,” Owen instructed. He was drawing up another syringe of liquid.

Barat repeated his spell again and the leg stilled. Owen administered the injection at the same time. “That was shorter than it was before,” Barat murmured. “He’s not waking up, it’s like the brain is falling back into whatever that fit was before. I’ve never done it to anyone sick before. It could be making things worse.”

Yami could not help himself. God, he hated this man. He hated what he had done to Finral and the mages he had sold to the Diamond kingdom. But at this moment, he was helping them. “He was dying before you came. Don’t think even you can make it worse than that.”

“Don’t blame me if it doesn’t work.”

“Oh, no, I blame you for lots of stuff, you bastard. But I know who’s to blame for this.” Yami glared at the young Recovery Mage still held within Fuegoleon’s bindings. 

Fuegoleon said, “With your permission, Captain Yami, Wizard King, I would like to take the prisoner back to the Capital. I’ll get his statement. There may be other individuals involved and I’d like them apprehended as soon as possible. Once I have conducted my inquiries, I will make a full report. And,” he glared at the young mage, “have him incarcerated within the castle until suitable punishment can be arranged.”

The mage wailed and tears ran down his face. “But I’m a noble… I’m…”

“You,” Yami said, “Are a fucking murderer.”

Julius nodded and handed over a communication disc. “Marx will be waiting for you. Thank you Captain Fuegoleon.”

The fire bindings lifted the mage off the ground and Fuegoleon walked behind him out of the door. 

“What about him?” Yami asked, pointing at the older mage. 

“Leave him here,” Owen said. “I might need the help. He’s tied up with the prestige and the politics now, but he used to be a pretty decent Recovery Mage.” 

“Not now,” the mage said. “I’m ruined.”

“Yes. You are. Make yourself useful for the first time in your career.”

Owen had Yami hold Finral’s arm again, even though there was no movement in the limb and the injection provoked no response. The fluid went in easier into the new vein, “We’re at ten minutes intervals now that the loading dose is established.” He seemed to consider Finral stable for the next few minutes, so he turned to look at Julius. “Does anyone want to explain what I missed?”

Yami answered, “This is Barat. He was the man who captured us in Ayre. He’s the one who threw Finral into the wall.”

“He’s the one who started all this?” Owen said. He was frowning at Julius.

“Yes,” Julius admitted. “I thought that his magic might be what you needed. I’ve never come across a spell like it.”

Owen inspected Barat from head to toe. Barat accepted the inspection with a lopsided grin. “You don’t have to agree with what I’ve done, Doc.”

“I’m not. I’m thinking of all the things I could use this magic for.”

Barat’s smile dropped as he spotted the predatory look in Owen’s eyes. Owen turned to Julius. “This man will have a sentence to serve for the attack on Finral and the kidnapping of the mages. I’ll speak to you about him serving it under direct supervision in the infirmary.”

The older Recovery Mage spluttered to say something, but Owen turned to him, “You no longer have an opinion on how the infirmary is run. You lost your right to that when you came to dispute what happened here.” 

“But,” the Recovery Mage started to say again 

Owen had already dismissed him and was back at Barat. “Do you have other spells in your grimoire? I will need a list. Now, please, put him back under again.”

The left leg was beginning to tremble again. Barat did his spell and Finral slipped back to sleep. 

Yami said to the older Recovery Mage, “I think you got dismissed by your new boss.”

Vanessa returned with Gordon. Gordon carried a small bowl of water and clean pyjamas. Vanessa was empty handed and closed off. She first looked towards Owen.

“He’s doing okay,” Owen answered her unasked question. “It’s working. He’s in deep sleep for the moment.”

She checked for Yami’s nod to confirm, before taking a breath and entering the room. Gordon had taken his things to Owen, so Vanessa stood with Yami. “Henry’s climbing the walls. He can’t feel him at all like this. I told him he saved his life again. Where’s Fuegoleon?”

“He took the bastard to the Capital's dungeon. I think he was looking forward to interrogating him.”

“Good.” She stared at Finral and said in a quiet voice, “I’m not sure if I can keep doing this. I think he’s getting better, then something else happens. If he dies, I don’t know what I do. Is this what it feels like being in a squad? I’m not sure if I’m ready for it.”

When Yami did not reply, Julius said, “Vanessa. This is what being in a family feels like.”

Owen beckoned Vanessa to come closer. She was wary, so Yami gave her a shove. “Get over there, silly witch.”

She took up her position next to Finral’s head again and pushed his damp hair off his forehead. “I’m going to give him his next injection, then we’re going to get him cleaned up and changed before the next one. Gordon, you’re going to help with that. Vanessa, your job is to keep an eye on his breathing all the time. If there are any changes, you tell us and we stop. Mr. Barat, if you could repeat your spell one more time, then into the corridor. 

Vanessa tensed as Barat performed his spell. She did not relax until he moved away. Gordon supported the arm for the next injection, while Yami and Julius escorted Barat out of the room.

Barat stood on one side of the corridor. Julius and Yami stood opposite him. 

“You want to ask me stuff? Every other bastard does,” Barat demanded after a moment of silence.

“Not really,” Yami said. “Figure we don’t owe you anything.”

“Right. Good.” Barat slouched against the wall and looked at his feet. “It’s only, no one ever told me my magic was useful before.”

“You met Owen three decades too late,” Yami said. 

“I just thought it was for, well, what I used it for.”

“Shit. You should have had this epiphany before you threw the boy at a wall.”

“He reminded me of me. When I hurt him, I saw…”

Yami growled. “Shut your mouth. I said I didn’t want to ask you questions. That means I don’t want to know your fucking sob story. You do what you can to make this right for Finral. You work with Owen to make it right for other people. And I never have to listen to you speak again.”

Barat opened his mouth. Then closed it again. He nodded. 

Vanessa opened the door. “You need to come back,” she said.

Finral’s leg was spasming again, but there was also tightening in the left hand. Barat did his spell, then stepped back and wobbled. Finral relaxed again. “That was less than five minutes. It’s never been that short. And… it was hard. It’s never hard. Something is resisting.” 

“The medication is reaching therapeutic levels in the bloodstream,” Owen explained as he did another. “That’s what is causing the resistance.”

“Then why is he still seizing when the spell wears off?” Yami asked.

“It’s still not back to what it was. He was needing a massive dose to hold the seizures before. He’s at a working dose, but not high enough yet.”

“Is it going to be… worse than that?” Barat asked.

“It seems likely,” Owen admitted. 

“Okay.” Barat pulled himself over a chair. “How long do you think this is will last?”

“Maybe another hour.”

“Shit. Okay.”

Gordon and Owen had managed to clean the blood and vomit away and change Finral into clean pyjamas again. He was still grey and the dark rings under his eyes seemed worse than before. His lips were tinged with blue as were his fingers. Owen said, “Yami, can you build up the fire? His temperature’s dropping.”

“Sure. Where’s the fire mage when you need him.”

“Have to keep them warm,” Barat said. “It always seemed to mess with their temperature. Lost one that way. Not pretty.”

Vanessa growled at him, and Gordon looked horrified. Julius said, “Sometimes not all the information is necessary.”

Barat shrugged. “You need me now.”

“We could gag him?” Vanessa suggested.

“You wouldn’t,” Barat started to say, then looked at her and pulled away. Her expression was so chilling that it seemed Barat would rather take his chances with Yami. 

“I think you should shut your mouth.”

“Please. Not now,” Owen said like a weary parent. He was watching Finral’s leg. “Barat, again please.”

The effort that Barat had to put into the spell was obvious. It took a little longer for the jittering to stop too. 

“How did you maintain the temperature?” Owen asked.

“My wife, she’s got stone magic. Used to be able to put hot rocks near them to stop it getting too low. But we were sometimes keeping them under for a whole day. It didn’t start to be a problem until six hours or so.”

“This is going to be different. Vanessa, would you mind. Gordon, could you perhaps ask Charmy if she could provide some hot water bottles and then bring us back some other blankets.”

Without hesitation Vanessa climbed under the covers beside the sleeping boy. “He’s really cold, Owen,” she said. “But he’s not shivering.”

“Shivering is one of the ways our body generates heat. It may be the spell that prevents it, or it might be a combination of the medication and the physiological stress. Whatever, we keep him warm until we can wake him and the seizures stop.”

Vanessa lay down beside Finral and wrapped her arms around him. Then she glanced at Yami. “You tell him I did this, I will kill you.”

“Not a word,” Yami promised. He decided it was the second thing he was going to tell Finral when he woke up. The first would be an earnest request that he never do this to them again.

Barat did his spell twice, each time looking more spent, and Owen completed one more injection by the time Gordon arrived with an arm full of blankets and Charmy with a dozen sheep cooks. There were no hot water bottles, because who needed them when you had an array of size changing sheep covered in wool. They slotted themselves alongside Finral wherever they could find a spot. They radiated so much heat that Vanessa became too warm and had to move away. This left more room for sheep to cuddle in close. Julius watched them with a smile.

When Owen did the next injection, he said, “That’s almost an hour and a half.” He checked the boy’s pulse and breathing, then his eyes’ response to light. This time both pupils contracted quickly at the same rate. Yami allowed himself a smile. 

Owen leaned back onto his heels. “I never thought we’d make an hour.” He brushed Finral’s hair off his face with a tenderness that Yami had never seen him use before. Hell, Finral was even getting under Owen’s professionalism. He instructed the older Recovery Mage to draw up another four syringes of medication. Charmy handed him a mug of tea without being asked. Owen took it with thanks.

“I don’t think I can do another half an hour of that,” Barat said.

Whether it was Barat’s voice, or something else, Yami was suddenly overwhelmed with the memory of this man’s hand around Finral’s neck. He could hear the sound of the boy’s skull crashing into the wall. It was so loud that he wondered if everyone could hear it. The katana was back in his hand before he realised what he was doing and he levelled it at Barat’s chest. The room had shrunk to him and this villain cowering in front of him. 

A heavy hand came to rest on Yami’s arm and another on his shoulder.

“You will...” Yami started to say, then found the words stuck in his throat. He could feel his heart racing.

Julius’s calm voice seemed to come from over a great distance. “Yami. You hear. He will do it.”

Yami let his sword point fall. “I need some air,” he said. He was sure that everyone could hear the ‘or I will kill this man,’ that he did not say aloud.

Owen and Julius lifted their hands and Yami left with all the dignity he could manage. He fled, he thought. He ran away. 

He could not go too far from the house, because Finral was inside and the boy might still die. He sat on the step at the door and hid his head in his hands and breathed for a moment. He could hear the wind through the trees and the chatter of the birds. Shit. The same birds that Vanessa was going to watch with Finral.

The door opened behind him, and he felt the person come and sit at his side. Vanessa handed him a cup of tea.

“You come to give me a pep talk again?” he asked. 

“No,” she said. “I came to keep you company.”

“You should be in there with Finral.”

“So should you. Yet, here we are. It’s okay to take a break. We’re going to do the same for Owen when Finral’s better. We catch our breath, then we go back in. And if that bastard.” She put so much malice into the word that it did not sound like her at all, “thinks he can stop whatever Owen needs him to do, we’ll threaten him together.”

Damn, Yami thought. If they ever got her to sober up, she should have her own squad.

“Deal,” he said. “Give me a minute though.”

“Sure. Owen says he’ll come get us if anything changes.”

The sun was hitting the treetops. He could smell the damp earth and the smoke from the fire indoors. He could feel Vanessa’s ki beside him, calm and patient. 

When the door opened, her ki flared. It was Charmy. Yami tried to read her, but she was at her most distant. That could mean either a disaster, or she was planning the next banquet in her head. “Come on,” she said and turned back indoors.

They had only been away five minutes.

In the common room, Finral was still asleep. Owen’s syringe pile was down to three. Barat’s face was creased into concentration and his grimoire was open and vibrating. He was muttering his spell almost continuously. “Not sure how long can… keep,” he muttered aloud then, back to the spell.

“Well, shit,” Yami said.

“Don’t panic,” Owen said. “Barat’s going to hold it as long as he can. But Finral’s got a working dose of medication in his system now. The seizures were bad to begin with because he was withdrawing from the drug. Just now, it’s as if he’s missed a couple of doses. When Barat can’t do any more, I don’t think he’ll seize straight away. If he does, it might be longer than we want, but he should come out on his own. We’ve done the dangerous part.”

“What are you saying, Owen?”

“When Barat can no longer continue against the meds, I think Finral is going to wake up. He’s probably going to have a seizure or two. But it’s not going to be what it was before. I need you and Vanessa to keep him quiet and calm. He’s likely to be confused and he’s always responded best to you two.”

Yami cracked his knuckles. “Barat needs to leave. The kid had nightmares and flashbacks. No one’s going to be able to keep him calm if he hears that man talking.”

Owen nodded. Julius said, “Understood. I will take care of that.”

“Do… do you still need me?” the other Recovery Mage said. Yami had forgotten he was there.

“You will stay here,” said Owen. “We will go to the infirmary together.”

The older man sighed and slouched back into his chair. Gordon was watching him.

The sheep huddled around Finral were beginning to fidget as they sensed the return to consciousness. Owen gave another injection early without commenting. 

“Going to do one more,” Barat muttered. His breath came in short pants and he was coated in a fine sheen of sweat. “Might keep him under a couple of minutes. Enough time to make myself scarce, Wizard King?”

Julius nodded. 

He repeated his spell. For a moment the sheep cooks settled, but Barat was already stumbling to the door. Julius nodded to the others and then followed.

“I’m not saying thank you,” Vanessa muttered angrily as they left.


	10. Chapter 10

Finral began to stir before the portal on the front lawn opened. For the first time since he’d been asleep, it was not the left leg that alerted them to the end of the spell’s effect, but a hitch in his breathing and a wriggling against the sheep cooks. Moments later his eyes flickered open and they began to scan the room in building panic. The whites of the eyes were obscured by blood.

“Yami,” he whispered. “I can’t, I can’t.”

“Damn,” Yami said and caught his hand before he could push away the sheep. His skin was still cold. “If this is about a portal, Finral, I’ve already told you. It’s okay. You’re safe. We’re at the base. We’re okay.”

“‘Nessa? Gordon? Som’thin’ happ’ed Gord’n.” He was slurring badly in his panic.

“Shhh. They’re okay. I’m going to tell you. Listen.”

The boy’s breathing slowed a little as he made a determined effort to concentrate on Yami’s words. “Vanessa’s here. That’s her holding your other hand. Gordon’s here. He got a short sleep, but he’s okay.”

“Nee’ to see.” He was squirming to try to see past Yami. 

Gordon appeared at Yami’s shoulder without any sound of footsteps. Creepy bastard. “Look. He’s here. He’s okay.”

Finral took his hand out of Yami’s to try to touch Gordon’s leg, but he was so uncoordinated that Yami had to take it and guide it to Gordon’s hand. When Finral seemed convinced, Yami took the hand and placed it on the nearest sheep cook. His fingers curled into the wool. 

“Charmy’s somewhere. Wherever she goes. But she left you the sheep to keep warm.”

“Owen? Langris?”

Damn. How did that brother always get into his head. “Owen is here.” Yami took the free hand from the sheep and placed it over Owen’s. “Langris is with the Golden Dawn. Giving Vangeance a headache probably.”

“No’ home. Lan’ris not a’ home?”

“No. He got into the Golden Dawn, remember, at the magic knight exam.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Golden Dawn,” he mumbled. He was calmer. “Golden Dawn. He’s okay. He’s away. It’s okay.” He murmured for a bit, clenching his hand back into Yami’s. “Is cold.” He shivered.

“Owen says that’s okay. The sheep are here to keep you warm. Vanessa cuddled up with you earlier.”

“Hey,” Vanessa said. “I said not to tell him.”

Finral relaxed a little more, as though the bickering was calming. Yami conceded, “Owen told her to.”

“Don’t bring me into this,” Owen said. “I didn’t know we had sheep instead.”

Finral giggled. “Like the sheep,” he muttered.

Yami glanced at Owen. The Recovery Mage gave a small smile and a gesture to continue. 

“Wha’ happ’ned, Yami,'' the boy asked, and the giggle evaporated into fear. “Is, somethin’ wrong. Can’t thin’ righ’.” The left leg began to twitch again.

“Hey, Finral. It’s okay. Don’t worry. I told you Owen was going to fix it. He’s here.”

The bloodshot eyes lost their focus and his features slackened. But it was not one of the big seizures and Yami would take what good news he could. “What do I do?” he asked Owen.

“Talk to him. Keep calm. Remember he doesn’t always lose awareness with these ones. So reassurance and keep him safe.”

Yami patted his hand again and said, “Right. Safe. Calm. Umm....” He could not think of anything to say.

Vanessa smiled at him. “Finral, we’re going to see the birds. We went out earlier. There are plenty in the trees. I think they’re coming to Charmy’s vegetable garden, so I might have to make her a scarecrow. I found a book of the different kinds and you can show me all the ones you know…”

She kept up the gentle chatter for a couple of minutes until the leg stopped twitching and Finral gave the gasping breath meant it was over. Rather than the panic that he recalled from the last time, Finral’s eyes hunted out Yami and he relaxed into the heat of the sheep. His hands were warmer. “Birds later, ‘nessa,” he murmured.

“Yeah. Birds later. You should rest now.”

“Ow’ns gonna stab me ‘gain. Isn’t he? Don’ know wha’ happ’ned.”

“Yeah. I think he’s going to stab you again. And you’ve been out of it for a couple of hours. Owen’s giving you the seizure meds again. And building them back up. Just another couple of injections to go for now.”

“Hmmm. Tha’ why I can’t think’ righ’. Aches. Can’t feel leg.”

Owen said, “Second last one for now, Finral.” 

He straightened his arm for Owen’s needle. “Stings.” The arm was red and irritated. This once, Yami would give him the right to complain.

“Yeah. I bet it does. You had to have quite a few,” Yami said.

“Are you gonna go?”

Yami scowled at him. “No. Why would I leave?”

“This.... this is a lot of work for you. Not magic knight work.”

Yami looked across at Owen. “A year until I can hit him on the head again?”

“At least a year.”

“Damn. Stop asking stupid questions, Finral. We get you on your feet,” he pointed at the left leg. “Both feet. Then we can get back to magic knight work. I need my ride back.”

“Hmm.” He looked at Yami. “Can I sit up? There’s a sheep on my leg.”

His speech was clearer. Yami assumed that getting closer to the original levels of medication in his blood was helping. 

With Owen’s nod of approval, Yami helped the boy to sit up against the cushions that Gordon brought. 

“I feel fizzy again and the light is getting noisy. It did this before.” His eyes flickered to the corners of the room. “The meds do this, don’t they? My brain’s not more fried?”

“It’s the meds,” Owen reassured. “The changes in dose trigger it off, so don’t worry. If you can sleep through it, that’s okay. But we’re going to be here like the last time.”

The boy was thoughtful for a moment, then said, “Wait. Why is the dose changing? Yami, what happened? You need to tell me.” The panic was growing in his voice. 

“Kid. Calm down.”

“I don’t feel calm. What happened?” Inevitably, the leg began to tremble again. He grabbed Yami’s hand. Vanessa still had the other. “Don’t go.”

“Finral. We aren’t going anywhere. Promise. I’ll tell you…” 

It was one of the big seizures this time. His eyes rolled back and his muscles tightened against themselves. Gordon helped them move the cushions back out of the way and they eased the boy to lie on his side again. Yami could not help the rush of fear as he watched him convulse again. Would it stop this time? Owen seemed calm, but seeing it go on so long before was playing in Yami’s memories. Vanessa stroked Finral’s hair out of his eyes. She spoke gentle words again.

Yami was about to ask when they should start worrying when the seizure stopped on its own. The contractions in the muscles relaxed and the grimace on his face settled. This time, rather than falling back to sleep, his eyes opened again. “S’rry,” he mumbled. “Di’n’t mean…”

“Idiot,” Yami said. “Of course you didn’t mean it. Owen’s got one more injection for you, then you’re back to the dose you were on this morning. No more seizures for a bit.”

“Yeah. Like tha’. Tired.”

“Sleep then.”

The boy closed his eyes. Owen checked the time and had Yami straighten out Finral’s arm for the final injection. The boy was not asleep, so he pulled away from the scratch. Owen rubbed the area then sank back into a chair. “Let’s never do that again.”

Charmy appeared at the door with tea and cake. Yami wondered how she knew when to make an appearance. She dished out mugs to everyone except the older Recovery Mage. Perhaps Yami should find out the bastard’s name. Charmy left a half-full mug with two handles beside Finral. The boy’s eyes opened as it cooled. 

He pushed himself around on the right arm so he could see Yami. “Tell me what happened,” he said. “Before the light gets too loud.”

“Never gonna get over how weird that sounds.”

“Not as weird as the sunlight does. Help me up.”

Yami helped him back to lie against the cushions. He ignored the way the boy’s bloodshot eyes kept flicking to the corners of the room, and the way he would rub at his ears as though trying to dislodge a noise no one else could hear. 

“You remember speaking to Julius. The Wizard King?”

Finral shook his head. 

“That’s okay,” Owen reassured them both. “There’s going to be some memory loss. What’s the last thing you do remember?”

“Maybe breakfast. We were talking about the birds in the garden. Was that today?”

“Yeah, that was today,” said Yami. “You’ve not lost much.”

“I don’t like losing anything at all,” he pouted. But there was no sense of panic in the whine this time. His glance flicked to the window and was held there for a half a minute before returning towards Yami’s face.

“The Wizard King, Fuegoleon and two Recovery Mages came from the Capital to find out what happened the night we called the infirmary. That’s one of them,” he pointed to the corner where the Recovery Mage was cowering. “Julius asked you questions that you managed to answer despite stressing yourself into a hole. You had a little seizure, so we left you with Gordon while Vanessa and I spoke to the others.”

Finral shrugged as if this was all news to him. 

“While we were answering their questions, the other Recovery Mage came in here while you were sleeping. He injected Gordon with something and then put you in his recovery spell.”

“Are you okay Gordon?”

Gordon nodded.

“And didn’t Owen say that he couldn’t use a recovery spell?” He took a deep breath and then another. “Is that why the wheezing is better?” 

Yami glanced at Owen, who nodded. With everything else that had been going on, Yami hadn’t noticed how much better the boy’s chest sounded. 

“But the recovery spell cleared out all the medication out of your body. You were withdrawing from high doses, and the seizures came back. It was…” he paused. How could he tell the boy that he’d nearly died? Because of some deluded Recovery Mage who was meant to help people. “It was really close. And I never, ever want you to do that again. You’re going to wear a shirt or a band or something that says ‘please check with Owen before sticking me in a recovery spell,’ because…. Shit that was fucking the scariest thing I have ever seen.”

Finral was back to watching the hallucinatory lights again, but he patted Yami’s hand. “So, you gave me a thousand injections and now I’m back in the weird between portals place. That thing you don’t want to tell me, you’d better do it now, Yami. Nothing you say is going to bother me when I can hear the trees grow.”

How could he be so perceptive when he could hardly focus on Yami’s face? “Are you that high?”

“Yeah,” he said with a whistle. “That’s what I was trying to say. So, explain now. Before I can start worrying about it.”

Vanessa climbed onto the sofa beside him. Finral wriggled as best he could with the uncooperative limbs so that he was almost sitting on her lap. 

“Is this what he was like when I was away?” Yami asked.

“Part of it. He got really cuddly. It eased off after a day or so.”

Owen said, “It shouldn’t take as long this time, but I can’t be sure.”

“I kinda like it,” Finral tutted at them. “So, talk, Yami.”

“Right. You were having seizures. Owen and him,” he waved at the mage in the corner, “said that you were either going to die or have such major damage to your brain that you wouldn’t wake up.”

Finral gave a small smile. “If you’re trying to test how much you can say before I freak out, it isn’t going to work, Sukehiro.”

Oh, God. Finral was calling him by his surname. He was going to kill him. “Look, idiot. That’s what happened. We thought you were going to die. He,” the mage in the corner again, “said that we should let it happen. Owen said we had to keep giving you the injections to try to get the levels back to what they had been. And it would take two hours. And you were going to keep having seizures until you died or killed off enough of your brain to make no difference. Then…” He stopped speaking again.

“I’ll ask Owen or Vanessa if you don’t tell me.”

“Damn it. Okay. Julius went to the prison and got Barat out. He put you under his sleep spell.”

Despite Finral’s assurance that nothing was going to bother him in this state, he went very pale at Barat’s name. It seemed that almost dying, continuous seizures and the threat of permanent damage to his brain paled in comparison to the panic that Barat’s name still triggered. “Is… is he here?”

“No,” said Yami, Vanessa and Owen together. Gordon mumbled something that was probably the same.

“Julius took him away,” Yami assured. “He saved your life, but that doesn’t mean we owe him anything.”

“But… but, he knows where we live.”

“No he doesn’t. Julius brought him and took him back with magic. He doesn’t know where you are. And Finral. The little bastard is scared of us.”

“If he helps people though. He might get out. He might come….” The flickering of his eyes was accelerating as if the hallucinations were getting faster.

Yami took both of the boy’s hands. “Finral. Look at me. Look.” With an effort, he brought his gaze back to Yami’s face. “The Wizard King. The most powerful mage in the kingdom was here with Fuegoleon Vermillion, the country’s second most powerful mage. They are not going to let anyone get near you. Barat doesn’t know where we are. The bastard saved your life. He’s not going to do anything to you, because if he does I’m going to drag him back here until he saves you again. Understand.”

Finral was bringing his breathing back under control again. He whispered under his breath, “The Wizard King, Captain Fuegoleon, Yami, Vanessa, Owen, Gordon, the Wizard King…”

Yami grinned at him, “See. That’s an impressive list against one stupid lowlife thug, kid. You’re good.”

“Yeah. It’s gonna be okay.” He was distracted by the lights only he could see again. “I’m thirsty. Can I have a drink?”

Owen handed him the cooled cup of tea that Charmy had brought. It smelled like one of the sugary concoctions that Finral enjoyed. He wriggled back into Vanessa. “The Wizard King, Captain Fuegoleon, Yami, Vanessa, Owen, Gordon, Charmy, the Wizard King, Captain Fuegoleon…”

“I can add more to that list if you want. Captain Vangeance asked how you were, some friend of yours paid for me and Jack’s drinking tab, that old woman you helped with her shopping. Most of the Grey Deer, Owen’s scary boss. They’re all going to keep you safe.”

The boy was calm again. He had been right. This was the best time to tell him. “It’s a long list, Yami. Thanks. If you hit me on the head before a year, can I ask them to help?”

Yami sat back against one of the chairs. “Only Owen. He’s scary enough.”

“Deal.”

Finral continued to chatter about the lights, the noise the trees were making, the sounds of the house and the way anyone who stood up seemed to stretch ‘forever’. He patted Vanessa’s arm whenever he noticed her. Owen reminded him to drink and Charmy kept his mug topped up. It was a good thing she found the two handled one, or he would have spilled it’s contents onto Vanessa more than once. 

The communicator disc buzzed on the table. It was Owen’s one that linked to the infirmary. He thumbed it on. It was Rednicht. 

“Who’s that?” Finral asked in nothing like a stage whisper. 

“Oh. You’re awake, young man,” she said, addressing Finral. “Excellent news.”

“She’s pretty,” he said to Yami.

Rednicht laughed. It was, despite her care-worn wrinkles and worried eyes, a kind laugh. “Thank you. How are you feeling?”

“I think I’m feeling new things. Did you know that sunlight sings, but it's a little off tune to the way the curtains move in the wind? And the butterflies. They feel like dancers on my skin. And…”

“Perhaps I’ll ask Owen,” she said. 

Finral nodded and sighed. “That’s probably best.”

“Can you come to the infirmary, Owen? Bring your guest. I’ll have your reports at the same time. Captain Yami, would you be able to escort them? I won’t keep you long. When I’m finished you can have Owen back to serve the rest of his suspension.”

“Rednicht, I don’t think I can leave Finral here without some kind of medical supervision.”

Finral interrupted, “Hey. I’m fine.” He pointed to a dim corner of the room above the bookcase “Look, can you see the mana around the butterflies.” 

“Of course. I’ll send that new trainee that you brought in. Arit or something.”

“Aralt. Yes. That’ll do. I’ll leave a note. He knows how to contact me if there’s a problem.”

Finral said to Vanessa, “Aralt. Is he a new Owen?”

“Only for a little while,” Vanessa whispered back.

Finral accepted that Owen and Yami were going to meet with the ‘pretty lady’ on the communicator. Vanessa and Gordon were going to stay, and the new-Owen, who’s name he had forgotten. And the butterflies.

Aralt met Owen, Yami and the older Recovery Mage at the regular portal location on the front lawn. He was neat and tidy, dressed in regular robes with a pencil behind his ear and smudge of ink on his chin. The older Recovery Mage sneered at the newcomer, but Owen welcomed him and told him where to find the patient, the medical notes and the communicator disc that would link directly into Owen wherever he was. 

The young man nodded. He ignored the others and trotted off into the house. “Not the best conversationalist, but an excellent Recovery Mage,” Owen said in apology. “He’s going to be best with the unconscious patients I think.”

“You’re sure that putting him in with Finral when he’s high as a kite is a good idea?”

“It’s a terrible idea,” Owen agreed. “But he’s clinically excellent and that’s more important than his communication skills.” Owen glared at the other Recovery Mage, so this was not the first time they had discussed this.

The portal opened into the front hallway of the infirmary. Owen nodded at the mage manning it today as well as a dozen other members of staff who met them in the corridor. The other mage, Yami really thought someone would have said his name by now, was ignored by everyone.

Yami had visited the infirmary before and always found it an unpleasant sort of place. It had felt strained. He only recognised how unfriendly it had been now that there was a change. The mages who greeted Owen were smiling. They smiled at Yami too. A couple shook his hand and said they were pleased to hear that his magic knight was doing better. Yami was not sure he would have called the last few hours ‘doing better’, but he guessed that the attempted murder was not common knowledge.

Rednicht invited them all into her office. She much looked older than the day she had put Yami in the recovery spell in the hideout. Older, yet satisfied, as though she was in the end stages of a hard race and now the finish line was in sight.

“You will explain to me what happened,” she said to Owen, then turned to the other Recovery Mage. “You will consider your situation while I listen. Your mouth will remain closed.”

Owen was concise in his summarising, like a student reporting to a teacher. “The clinical picture had improved this morning. The fever was better, but there was a persisting wheeze and crepitations in the chest. He seemed to have responded well to the new agent I introduced yesterday. However, he was distressed by the arrival of the investigating team. He managed to answer the Wizard King’s questions, but the stress provoked another partial seizure. We left him to rest under the care of Gordon Agrippa while myself, Yami and Vanessa Enoteca answered questions in another room of the house.”

“We realised towards the end of the interview that the young mage had left without our knowledge. He had gone back to the common room. I assume that he injected Gordon Agrippa with a sedative, and then put Finral into his recovery spell.”

“Did he explain why?” 

“He said that he believed that Finral was being kept in an unhealed state to influence the investigation against Harallen. He wanted to use his recovery magic to prove that Finral was not as unwell as he appeared.”

Rednicht nodded. “I have had a brief report from Captain Fuegoleon to the same effect. Now, tell me the medical situation.”

Owen fell into medical talk that Yami did not understand, nor feel the need to. It turned the past few hours of horror and fear into medicalised jargon. Rednicht’s expression did not change as Owen said things like ‘brain oedema’ and ‘irreparable damage’ and other phrases that seemed to mean ‘dying’ with more letters. She took notes on Barat’s sleep magic and nodded as Owen described the effect of his spell.

“Interesting. Very interesting. I expect to see this written up formally, Owen. And a list of indications. I understand that the criminal is still serving his punishment.”

“Yes. The Wizard King took him back to the city prison.”

She marked it on her sheet of paper. “When you return to the infirmary, arranging his work sentence will be one of your first duties.”

Yami said, “But…”

Owen interrupted. “This isn’t the first person I’ve looked after who had the same problem as Finral’s. We can do lots with recovery magic, but it has its limitations. If Barat had not been there, Finral would have died, Yami. He would have stopped breathing, his heart would have stopped and nothing would have fixed it because the brain was dead. It wouldn’t be the first patient I lost like this.” His poker face dropped for a moment and he looked weary. Yami remembered the way he had brushed the hair from Finral’s face.

“I understand,” Yami said. “I don’t like it. I don’t think you like it either. But I understand.”

Owen nodded. He described building up the dose of medication over the series of injections, and the limitations of Barat’s spell. “When he could no longer continue, Finral woke naturally. He had two seizures, one partial, one generalised, but both were self-limiting after a few minutes. They were preceded by emotional distress, but I can’t decide if it’s an aura or the trigger. Once the drug level was restored there were no further events. Aralt has strict instructions to contact me if he does have another seizure, no matter how short.”

“And now he’s experiencing some of the side effects of increasing the dose,” Rednicht said.

“If you mean ‘is he high?’ Yes he is,” Yami said.

“An excellent learning opportunity for young Aralt.” Rednicht said with a streak of unprofessional vindictiveness.

Owen sighed. “You can tell me who he annoyed later.”

“I think they’ll tell you themselves. I assume that Mr Roulacase’s breathing is better? It sounded fine over the communicator.”

“Yes. His breathing is back to normal. He has some memory loss and I’ve not tested out the neurology on the left side, but he’s moving the leg and arm. He’s alert and oriented.”

“And high. He can hear the sunlight,” Yami added.

Owen ignored him. “So I’m hopeful we aren’t significantly worse off than when we started. I’ll be able to do a proper examination once the… euphoria settles.”

“Good,” Rednicht said. “Yami. I wanted you to come, so that I could offer you the infirmary’s apology again. That young mage asked to come because it’s his half-brother under investigation. I agreed on the condition that he was chaperoned at all times by his supervisor. Isn’t that correct?” she said as she turned to the other Recovery Mage.

He squirmed under her gaze, then, with a determined effort, he stood straighter. He seemed to be looking out of the window beyond Rednicht as he said, “I… I would like to tender my resignation.”

Rednicht did not smile, but there was a sense of sad victory as she said. “Accepted. Please collect your belongings from your room. I’m sure Captain Fuegoleon will have further questions as part of the criminal investigation.”

With the shred of dignity he had left, the mage left the room before Rednicht could dismiss him. She sighed and rubbed her hand over her eyes. “I would have rather it had not ended like that, but I’m glad he’s gone.” She looked at Owen. “I expect you back in a week. I’ve timetabled a month of crossover, then the ship is all yours.”

“Rednicht…”

She scowled at him, then turned to Yami. “Captain Yami. Do you have any reason to doubt the appointment of my successor?”

“No ma’am.”

“Then it’s decided. Now, go and rescue Aralt from your patient before I have to accept his resignation too.”

They made their farewells. Owen left Yami in the foyer as he restocked his medical supplies. As he sat and watched the mage on portal duty he enjoyed the happy bustle of the Recovery Mages. He was approached by a Grey Deer mage and an orderly carrying a sweeping brush who both asked how Finral was getting on. They passed on their good wishes and Yami added them to the list of people whose names he forgot.

During a lull in foot traffic, the portal mage also asked how Finral was, and if he’d be willing to take a shift next week. Yami said he did not think that would be happening, and the mage nodded sadly. “You ever need to get here, quick, you ask for me.”

Yami decided to remember his name.

Owen was followed by another two mages when he returned. They were talking at the same time about different topics. 

“...and if you would look over the plans I've drawn up, I’m sure you’ll see the benefit of the extra space for rehabilitation patients…” one said.

The other was saying, “...you can see from the rota for that week that I’ve been given three nightshifts in a row and I’d like to…”

Owen raised his hands and said. “I can’t help you. I’m still suspended.”

In unison, both mages tutted as if that were a minor inconvenience.

“Black Bull’s base,” the portal mage said with a smile, just as they were both about to start talking again.

Owen and Yami walked through into the relative quiet of the hideout lawn. The portal shrank in on itself behind them. 

Yami pushed the front door open, and was met by the young mage from earlier. Aralt? He looked a lot less neat than he had when he had arrived. His hair was untidy and there were more smudges on his face. He had his robe and shoes in his hand, both dripping with water. Was he wearing a pair of Gordon’s pants?

“Aralt,” Owen said. “What is going on?”

“I think someone else should be looking after this patient,” Aralt said as he strode past them. 

“What happened?”

“He can tell you himself. I will send the bill for the laundry. Goodbye Captain Yami.” He thumbed on a communication disc and spoke into it as he walked. The portal flashed back into existence and he was through it before Owen had a chance to ask anything else.

Owen and Yami shared a look before hurrying into the common room.

“What the hell did you do to that Recovery Mage?” Yami demanded as the door opened. 

Finral and Vanessa were sitting on the sofa giggling together like a pair of pre-teen girls. They stilled a little at Yami’s glare. Finral was leaning into Vanessa. He was pale and tired with dark rings under his eyes, but as he glanced up at Owen and Yami, he dissolved into laughter again. That set Vanessa off again too.

“He’s funny,” Finral said once he caught his breath. “He…” Giggling again.

Vanessa was no help either.

Yami turned to Gordon. The quiet man had a small smile. “Gordon. Explain.”

Of course Yami could not understand the answer, but Owen did. He looked amused, then horrified.

“You threw up on him?” Owen asked Finral.

“He was so rude,” Vanessa giggled. 

“I did try to warn him,” Finral said through the tired laughter. “Honest. But I feel much better, thank you,” 

“So I see,” Owen put a hand on his forehead and frowned at both of them. It was enough to dampen the hysteria for the moment. “You need to drink and keep it down. You don’t want your kidneys giving you problems along with everything else.”

“Yes sir, Mr Owen sir,” Finral said with an exhausted salute. Gordon was already prepared with the two handled mug of tea. “I’m going to throw this up, too,” he said as he started to sip the contents. He sounded unconcerned.

“Not with this you won’t,” Owen said as he prepped another syringe full of medication. Finral sighed and squirmed into Vanessa again. “I hate injections.”

“Well, if you have another way to get an antiemetic into your system, I’d be delighted to hear about it.” 

“Bet you could do it with a portal,” Finral mused. 

“No portals,” Yami, Owen and Vanessa said together.

“Okay. No portals.” He pulled up his sleeve and let Owen administer the injection without further comment. “Got a headache,” he murmured against Vanessa, who slung an arm around him and let him cuddle in closer. She ran her hand through his hair as he drifted back to sleep.

“He really did try to warn that mage,” Vanessa said once she was sure that Finral was sleeping against her.

“I believe you. Aralt isn’t known for his listening skills at the best of times. We need him to keep drinking though. The kidneys have to be kept hydrated or they could be overwhelmed by the drugs in his system.”

“Shit,” Vanessa said. “Is there anything else?”

“Don’t worry. This one is straightforward compared to the rest. Keep him drinking, don’t let him throw up too often.”

“When you put it that way, it almost sounds easy. How was your meeting?”

Yami shrugged. “They talked about a lot of medical stuff. That old guy quit, Owen’s boss looked sort of sad and relieved at the same time. Owen’s still got to serve his suspension here with us, then he gets promoted.”

“Will you remember us when you’re in charge of the infirmary, hot shot Recovery Mage?” she asked Owen.

Owen sat on a chair and slung his feet onto the table the same way Yami did. “I think I’ll remember this, Vanessa. My first honorary squad membership, my first suspension, my first time ever getting someone back from that kind of seizure activity. It’s been memorable, I’ll give you all that.”

Vanessa offered to stay with Finral when evening came. Yami carried the boy to his bed and he wriggled as he was lifted away from Vanessa’s warmth. “Bedtime, Finral,” he said.

“I ca’ walk,” he mumbled even as he snuggled into Yami’s heat.

“Sure you can. Practice walking tomorrow.”

“Gonna see th’ g’rden.”

“Yeah. Good plan.”

Vanessa climbed onto the bed beside the boy and propped herself on a couple of pillows with a book on her knee. Without waking, Finral wriggled closer. She put her hand on his shoulder.

“Are you feeling better too?” Yami asked her.

“I think so. I’m not ready to let him out of my sight yet. Gordon can have the night off.”

“I get it. Goodnight Vanessa. Finral.”

He sat with Owen in the common room for a while. They did not speak because what on earth could you say after a day like that. Yami watched the flames in the fireplace and let the events of the day wash over him. 

Owen’s small snores brought him out of his reverie. “Hey, Owen. Bed?”

Owen opened his eyes. “Sure. Probably a good idea.” He levered himself off the chair and let his joints crack as he flexed his neck and shoulders. “Hell of a day, Yami,” he said.

“Yes. Let’s never do that again.”

“Agreed.”

Yami walked the Recovery Mage back to his room. Before he went to bed too, he found himself on the fifth floor in front of a plain door. He knocked and Henry said, “Ya… mi.”

Yami pushed the door open. Henry gave a smile that brightened his whole face. “I’m going to bed Henry. I wanted to check you were okay.”

“The… house… feels… him…. He is… better.”

“Yeah. Thanks to you again. I think tomorrow we’re going to try to get into the garden. You should watch.”

“I… will… try.”

“Great.”

Yami went to his own room, content that his squad was okay.


	11. Epilogue

Yami woke more refreshed than he had for days. Perhaps it was sleeping in his own bed and knowing that Vanessa was with Finral. Owen was in the building and there were no more visits planned. Or it was just that he had not been sleeping well and yesterday had been a stressful day.

Charmy was in the kitchen making breakfast as usual. Owen was already there, so Charmy was creating the full breakfast experience. Yami counted six pans on the range, three boiling kettles and five sheep cooks stirring and preparing ingredients. Owen was watching with something like adoration in his eyes.

“You can’t recruit her,” Yami said as he pulled up a chair. “She’s a Black Bull.”

Owen sipped his coffee and called to Charmy, “If they ever treat you badly Miss Pappitson, there is always a position open for you in the infirmary.”

Charmy giggled in delight, and continued to cook.

Vanessa and Finral arrived soon afterwards. Finral had his arm slung around Vanessa’s shoulders to make up for the dragging left leg, but he was able to support his own weight when they paused at the doorway. He balanced on his right leg and wriggled his left foot at Owen. “Look. It works.”

Owen’s grin was honest and pleased. “So I see. Some exercises for that and it’ll get even better.”

“I’d like to walk somewhere by myself sometime. Not that being this close to you isn’t lovely Vanessa.”

Vanessa snorted and dragged him to the table. She dropped him onto a chair and he gave an undignified squawk as he nearly fell back off again. Yami offered him a hand to straighten himself up. “You deserved that.”

“I probably did.”

“It’s what he gets for losing my place in my book,” Vanessa said.

“What else was I meant to do. You were lying on my leg. I was trapped,” Finral looked at Yami. “She reads really odd books. Although, I recognised bits of it.”

“She was reading it to you when you were sleeping. I read a bit, and it’s not my taste.”

“Yes. That’s why I could hear it in your voice, Vanessa.”

Vanessa grinned. “You like it really.”

“Well,” Finral said. “I think I liked you reading it. It’s a bit more…” He paused as he tried to find the right word, “romantic than I normally read.”

Vanessa cackled. “You’re just not old enough to know about that stuff yet.”

“I’m plenty old enough.” Finral argued.

“Sure, kid. You’re what, twelve?”

They continued to bicker as Charmy gave them both plates of food. Like the excellent cook that she was, she had adapted her portions. Finral’s held half the food that Vanessa’s did because he was inclined to give up if there was more than he could eat and his appetite was still appalling. Vanessa’s plate had all her favourite greasy food that she enjoyed even if she was not hungover. 

Gordon arrived. Charmy hugged him and provided him a plate of something soggy and fishy that had Finral turning up his nose and Gordon thanking Charmy almost audibly. 

“You know, you couldn’t read anything a few days ago,” Yami said when the discussion over Vanessa’s choice of reading material seemed to be reaching its conclusion.

Finral looked thoughtful. “It looked wrong. Sort of like the letters were mushed together. It didn’t seem important. It’s better now. I bet I could play you at that game with the letter tiles now.”

“Owen would beat you,” Vanessa said.

“Definitely. We could try after lunch. I want to go to the garden this morning. You said we could Yami.”

“Yes, kids. We can go to the garden. Eat your breakfast.”

Finral was oblivious to the attention Owen was paying to the way he cleared his plate and drank two glasses of whatever sugary concoction Charmy kept plying him with.

Owen slid three tablets across the tablet towards him. “You need to take three twice a day.”

Finral looked at them in disgust. As Yami watched, though, the penny dropped and a small smile creeped onto the boy’s face. “You mean. No more needles?”

“If you throw up on my shoes, there may be injections in your future,” Owen said. “But until then, let's give the tablets a try.”

Finral’s smile became wider. “You know they taste disgusting.”

“I’ve been told.”

Finral swallowed all three with a happy grin. 

“Now we can go into the garden.” He put out his hand for Vanessa who helped him to stand. He wobbled on the left leg, but it was steadier than it had been when he arrived in the kitchen. He shrugged at Yami. “It’s always better after a rest,” he explained, then said to Vanessa. “Come on. You said there was a whole tree full of birds you wanted me to see.”

Vanessa held his arm and she supported him as he limped to the door. He was already telling her the different species he had seen from the common room window. 

Yami and Owen joined them on one of the benches a little later. Yami glanced at the fifth floor and thought he saw a figure at one of the windows. He waved.

Finral was shaky but grinning as though he had never done anything quite so marvellous as sit on a bench and watch the birds. He was leaning into Vanessa again. “That’s a lot further than it looks. How do you people manage without portals?”

Yami thought about walking to this house with the unconscious boy in his arms and his first view from these trees. He remembered the splash of water in the bathroom, and the wait on that stormy night. The fever dreams and the seizures that looked like they were never going to stop.

“You’ve come a lot further than that, kid,” Yami muttered. And if Finral looked like he had no idea what Yami was talking about, Owen and Vanessa understood perfectly.

_End_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we reach the end. At least for now. There is one more story, if I can get Finral to stop talking it long enough to finish it. It brings this time line up to the present day and I'd say wraps it up nicely. But Finral won't stop talking, so I make no promises.
> 
> This story is better because of _simplesongsmistress_ and _fairytail1230's_ wonderful input and cheerleading. Thank you both.
> 
> Finally, if you've liked this, let me know. I crave all kinds of feedback, and will chatter about headcanons until someone stops me. Thank you for reading.


End file.
